Rocket propulsion method and means

ABSTRACT

15. A rocket comprising, in combination, a housing having an open inlet end portion and an outlet end portion, engine means mounted in said housing and having burner nozzles in a combustion chamber therein and an exhaust portion at said outlet end portion of said housing operable to discharge gases from said combustion chamber therethrough, a liquid hydrogen fuel storage tank positioned within said housing, a liquid air storage tank positioned within said housing, a heat exchanger mounted at said inlet portion of said housing and having an air inlet diffuser portion opening into a relatively narrow air desuperheater portion which in turn opens into an enlarged condenser portion, a plurality of tubes in said condenser portion and said air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger, inlet headers with the inlet end of said tubes and outlet headers with the outlet end of said tubes, conduit means connected to said hydrogen fuel storage tank and connected to said inlet headers to pass liquid hydrogen fuel therethrough, control means with said last-named conduit means having pressure and temperature pickup means in said air desuperheater portion and said condenser portion of said heat exchanger to regulate flow of said fuel thereto to control pressure and temperature conditions in said air desuperheater portion and said condenser portion of said heater exchanger, conduit means positioned to receive fuel from said outlet headers of said air desuperheater portion and supply said fuel to said burner nozzles in said rocket engine, hydrogen fuel recirculating conduit means connecting said outlet headers of said tubes with the inlet of said hydrogen fuel storage tank, air condensate well means with said condenser portion of said heat exchanger, conduit means connecting said air condensate well with said liquid air storage tank and with said burner nozzles of said rocket engine, means with said liquid air storage tank to separate oxygen from the liquid air and make the same available to said burner nozzles to support combustion of the fuel, conduit means connecting said liquid air storage tank with said last-named means to provide liquid air from said liquid air storage tank thereto, and means in said rocket constructed and adapted to be initially fueled with liquid hydrogen and in flight to receive air from the atmosphere and condense same and separate the nitrogen therefrom to be used as the oxidizer for said hydrogen fuel for burning in said combustion chamber of said rocket engine.

i 1 ROCKET PROPULSION METHOD AND MEANS [75] Inventor: David 0. Stuart,Wichita, Kans.

[73] Assignee: The Boeing Company, Wichita,

Kans.

[22] Filed: July 9, 1962 [21] Appl. No.: 208,416

Primary Examiner-Samuel Feinberg Attorney-1ohn H. Widdowson EXEMPLARYCLAIM 15. A rocket comprising, in combination, a housing having an openinlet end portion and an outlet end portion, engine means mounted insaid housing and having burner nozzles in a combustion chamber thereinand an exhaust portion at said outlet end portion of said housingoperable to discharge gases from said combustion chamber therethrough, aliquid hydrogen fuel storage tank positioned within said housing, aliquid air storage tank positioned within said housing, a heat exchangermounted at said inlet portion of said housing and having an air inletdiffuser portion opening into a relatively narrow air desuperheaterportion which in turn opens into an enlarged condenser portion, aplurality of tubes in said coridenser portion and said air desuperheaterportion of said heat exchanger, inlet headers with the inlet end of saidtubes and outlet headers with the outlet end of said tubes, conduitmeans connected to said hydrogen fuel storage tank and connected tosaidinlet headers to pass liquid hydrogen fuel therethrough, control meanswith said last-named conduit means having pressure and temperaturepickup means in said air desuperheater portion and said condenserportion of 7 said heat exchanger to regulate flow of said fuel theretoto control pressure and temperature conditions in said air desuperheaterportidn and said condenser portion of said heater exchanger, conduitmeans positioned to receive fuel from said outlet headers of said airdesuperheater portion and supply said fuel to saidburner nozzles in saidrocket engine, hydrogen fuel recirculating conduit means connecting saidoutlet headers of said tubes with the inlet of said hydrogen fuelstorage tank, air condensate well means with said condenser portion ofsaid heat exchanger, conduit means connecting said air condensate wellwith said liquid air storage tank and with said burner nozzles of saidrocket engine, means with said liquid air storage tank to separateoxygen from the liquid air and make the same available to said burnernozzles to support combustion of the fuel, conduit means connecting saidliquid air storage tank with said lastnamed means to provide liquid airfrom said liquid air storage tank thereto, and means in said rocketconstructed and adapted to be initially fueled with liquid hydrogen andin flight to receive: air from the atmosphere and condense same andseparate the nitrogen therefrom to be used as the oxidizer for saidhydrogen fuel for burning in said combustion chamber of said rocketengine.

15 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures United States Patent Stuart Oct. 30, 1973PAIENIEUUCIBO 1913 1,768,254 sum 1 OF 3 v INVENTOR. DAVID O. STUART/#A/' FIG. I

ATTORNEY PATENTEDumao 1915 3 768,254

SHEET- 2 OF 3 INVENTOR. DAVID O. STUART ATTORNEY PATENTEDnmao Tera3,768,254 SHEET 3 CF 3 I 200* I g F g I '6 3 CH0 lso 8 if 2 l- S 5 AIRDESUPERHEATER I 5 I00 HEAT LOAD I CONDENSER HEAT LOAD o 7 so TIME- sec FG 4 HEAT LOADS AND TEMPERATURE OF COOLANT LEAVING CONDENSER VS TIMECOOLANT FLOW RATE WITHOUT RECYCLING LB/HR PER LB/HR FUEL BURNED l-IJ m g5 ..l COOLANT FLOW RATE WITH RECYCLING 0 5- lo l5 2o 25 TIME-SEC I l l IF g 0 IO 20 5060 ELEVATION I000 FT I COOLANT FLOW RATE vs TIME INYENTOR'F G DAVID o. STUART M ATTQRNEY ROCKET PROPULSION METHOD AND MEANS Thisinvention relates to propulsion. In a more spe cific aspect it relatesto method and means for propelling a vehicle, such as a rocket or thelike. In still a more specific aspect the invention relates to a rocketor the like vehicle, and to method and means for propelling same, wherethe oxidizer for the fuel is taken on board and stored during movementof the rocket or the like through the atmosphere. In a still morespecific aspect the invention relates to a rocket vehicle, and to methodand means for propelling same which includes the production of liquidair and separation of same into fractional components to substantiallyeliminate the nitrogen portion of the liquid air and providesubstantially pure liquid oxygen to engine means for combustion thereinwith a fuel.

Various types of propulsion method and means are known to the art. Theknown gas turbine and jet engines are inefiicient in that they require arelatively large expenditure of work to compress air during operation ofthe engine; Also, propulsion method and means for rockets, spacevehicles and the like are also known, however they require the initialstorage of a large volume and weight of oxidizer material, usually inthe form of a super-cooled liquid such as liquid oxygen or the like, andsuch increases the lift-off weight of the vehicle to such an extent thatgreatly increased size and power requirements result for the entirevehicle. No satisfactory method or means are known for propelling arocket or the like wherein the oxidizer is obtained from the atmosphereduring flight and is condensed within the rocket means and subsequentlyfractionized to remove the relatively large quantities of nitrogenpresent in the atmospheric air so that liquid air component supplied tothe engine means as the oxidizer is substantial-1y free of elementsother than oxygen.

In accordance with the vehicle and propulsion means therefor of thepresent invention, engine means are provided and are cooperativelymountable in rocket means or the like and are operable when mountedtherein to drive same. Fuel storage means are mountable in the rocketmeans and are constructed to receive and store therein a fuel. Condensermeans are mountable in the rocket means and operable when mountedtherein to receive air from the atmosphere during flight of the rocketmeans therethrough and to condense the air. Other means are mountable inthe rocket means and constructed and operable to fractionate the liquidair from the condenser means into a liquid oxygen fraction and a gaseousnitrogen fraction. Conduit means are connected to the engine means, thefuel storage means and the condenser means to provide fuel and oxygen toburn the fuel in the engine means.

The method of propelling a rocket or the like of the invention includesthe steps of receiving atmospheric air during flight, condensing same,and fractionating the resulting liquid air and removing the nitrogencomponent thereof. The remaining component of the liquid air istransferred to a combustion chamber for oxidation of a fuel therein andthe fuel is ignited in the combustion chamber. The resulting exhaustgases are directed from the combustion chamber in one direction topropel the rocket or the like in the opposite direction.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide new vehiclemeans.

rocket means.

It is still another object of the invention to provide new method andmeans for propelling a vehicle such as a rocket or the like.

Another object of the invention is to provide new method and means forpropelling a rocket or the like wherein the oxidizer is produced duringoperation and transferred to a combustion zone for oxidation of the fueltherein and combustion of same.

A further object of the invention is to provide a new method and meansfor propelling; a rocket or the like wherein air from the atmosphere iscondensed during flight of the vehicle and fractionated into a gaseousnitrogen containing fraction and a liquid oxygencontaining fraction withthe oxygen-containing fraction being used to oxidize a fuel duringburning thereof within a combustion zone.

A further object of the invention is to provide new rocket means or thelike wherein the need for storing large volumes and weights of oxidizerin the vehicle at take-off is eleminated.

A further object of the invention is to provide new method and means forpropelling a rocket or the like wherein the fuel used for driving therocket or the like is a low boiling point fuel and which is used forremoving heat from atmospheric air during condensation thereof inflight.

Another object of the invention is to provide new rocket means or thelike having a relatively low boiling fuel therein for burning in acombustion zone and wherein the fuel is circulated and subsequentlyrecirculated through means for condensing atmospheric air or the like tobe used as the oxidizer for the fuel in the combustion zone.

Various other objects, advantages and features of the invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the followingdiscussion taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal diagrammatic cross section view through apreferred specific embodiment of the new rocket means of the inventionand showing a preferred specific embodiment of propulsion means forrockets or the like of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an isometric view, partially cut away and partially in crosssection to show the heat exchanger portion of the propulsion means ofthe invention as illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial diagrammatic view illustrating a modifiedconstruction of the propulsion means shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating heat loads and temperature of coolantleaving the condenser.

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating the coolant flow rate.

The following is a discussion and description of preferred specificembodiments of the new vehicle means of the invention and method andmeans of propelling rockets or the like of the invention, such beingmade with reference to the drawings whereon the same reference numeralsare used to indicate the same or similar parts and/or structure. It isto be understood that such discussion and description is not to undulylimit the scope of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and to FIGS. 1 and 2 inparticular a rocket is shown generally at 10 and includes a housing 12which has a generally cylindrical center portion 14 which is joined atthe ends to an integral exhaust end portion 16 having an exhaust opening17 and an open inlet end portion 18. Preferably a plurality of fins orsuitable stabilizing means 20 are secured to the exhaust end portion 16of the housing 12 and preferably taper from the end portion 16 towardthe intermediate portion 14 of the housing 12 with the end portions ofthe fins 20 nearest the center portion of the housing being instreamlined engagement with the housing 12.

A rocket engine 22 is mounted in housing 12 and is desirably of the typewhich is constructed to burn a hydrogen or hydrogen-containing fueltherein. The engine 22 has a combustion chamber 24, and a plurality ofburner or injector nozzles 26 are positioned to discharge fuel andoxidizing material into the combustion chamber 24. The combustionchamber 24 is preferably generally spherical in shape and opens througha narrow neck portion 28 to an enlarged frusto-conical exhaust portion30 having the relatively large end portion thereof positioned in spacedrelation to the combustion chamber 24 and opening to the atmosphere atthe opening 17 of the exhaust end portion 16 of the housing 12. Theexhaust portion 30 receives exhaust gases from the combustion chamber 24and discharges same into the atmosphere, such directing the exhaustgases in one direction to exert an equal and opposite force on therocket means to cause resultant movement of the rocket means in anopposite direction. The engine means can be of any suitable constructionwhereby an oxidizer is used.

A liquid hydrogen fuel storage tank 34 is provided and is mountablewithin the housing 14 in any suitable manner so as to be fixedlypositioned therein. Tank 34 has an inlet 36 and an outlet 38 to receiveand discharge liquid hydrogen fuel. Tank 34 is preferably constructed toreceive and contain the hydrogen fuel when in the liquid state anddesirably at a temperature in the neighborhood of 45 R, and preferablythe tank 34 is constructed so that little or no heat loss occurs fromthe tank 34.

A liquid air storage tank 40 is mountable within the housing 14 and ispreferably constructed to receive and retain therein liquid air and/orliquid oxygen and maintain same at relatively low temperatures toprevent vaporization thereof. The storage tank 40 preferably has acommon inlet and outlet 42 through which the liquid is received anddischarged from the tank 40.

A heat exchanger is provided and is shown generally at 44. The heatexchanger is mounted within the housing 12 and includes an air inletdiffuser portion 46 which is preferably frusto-conical in shape as shownand has the relatively large end portion thereof positioned at the openinlet end portion 18 of the housing 12 to receive air from theatmosphere therein during flight of the vehicle and funnel same into acentrally located and preferably elongated air desuperheater portion 48.The desuperheater portion 48 has a throat 50 at the end thereof oppositefrom the air inlet diffuser portion 46.which opens into an air condenser52 which is preferably enlarged relative to the air desuperheaterportion 48 and can be generally cylindrical in shape as illustrated inFIG. 2.

Means are preferably provided to remove moisture and carbon dioxide fromatmospheric air as it passes into the heat exchanger. The means forremoving the moisture from the air and the carbon dioxide shown in thedrawings includes a plurality of coolant tubes 54 which are positionedacross the inlet end of the air desuperheater 48 and desirably extendsubstantially thereacross as illustrated in FIG. 2. An inlet header 56is provided and is positioned to be in fluid communication with theinlet end of each of the coolant tubes 54 and a conduit 58 is connectedin one end portion to the header 56 and operatively connected in theother end portion to the hydrogen fuel storage tank 34 to providehydrogen fuel to the tubes 54.

An outlet header 60 is provided and is in fluid communication with theoutlet end of each of the tubes 54 and a conduit 62 is connected to theoutlet header 60 to receive hydrogen fuel therefrom and discharge sameto the engine means. A plurality of fins 64, FIG. 2, are mounted on thetubes 54 and are positioned in spaced relation and provide a relativelylarge amount of heat transfer surface. The fins 64 are cooled by thepassage oflow temperature hydrogen fuel through tubes 54 and water andcarbon dioxide in air passing across the fins is frozen on the fins andretained thereon.

Other means for removing moisture and carbon dioxide from theatmospheric air are shown in the drawings, such including a conduit 66which is connected in one end portion to the liquid air storage tank 40and is connected in the other end portion to a header 68 adjacent theair desuperheater portion of the heat exchanger. A plurality of conduitsor tubes 70 extend from the header 68 and are positioned at the inlet ofthe air desuperheater and have a plurality of nozzles 72 which in usespray liquid air or liquid oxygen into the air desuperheater. Byspraying the liquid air or liquid oxygen into the air desuperheaterwater and/or carbon dioxide in atmospheric air passing therethrough isfrozen and suspended in the air and the air passing therefrom into thecenter portion of the air desuperheater is substantially dried and freeof moisture and carbon dioxide. The tube wall temperature in the heatexchanger is maintained below the condensing temperature of air bycirculation of hydrogen fuel therethrough and it has been found that theresulting ice will not adhere to the walls of these low temperatures.The resulting ice can be collected in a well in the condenser 52 anddischarged from the vehicle.

The use of suitable means to remove moisture and carbon dioxide from theair is quite desirable. In the absence of such means ice could form onthe tubes in the air desuperheater and/or condenser portions of the heatexchanger and would greatly reduce the heat transfer coefficients andcould result in an insufficient amount of heat transfer surface. Also,ice could form in such a manner as to block air flow in the heatexchanger.

Means are provided in the air desuperheater portion 48 of the heatexchanger to cool atmospheric air passing therethrough. Preferably, aircooling means is provided by a plurality of passes of coolant tubes 76which are preferably positioned with the inlet end thereof at the lowerend portion of the air desuperheater of the portion thereof adjacent thecondenser 52 and with the outlet end portions of the tubes positionednear the inlet end portion thereof or adjacent the means for drying theair entering same. The coolant tubes 76 preferably have a plurality ofspaced plates 78 thereon which provide a large heat conducting surfacearea and the plates 78 are preferably generally parallel to each otherand located in planes parallel to the longitudinal axis of the airdesuperheater portion 48.

A coolant inlet header 80 is provided and is positioned in fluidcommunication with the inlet end of each of the tubes 76 and an outletheader 82 is positioned at the upper portion of the air desuperheater 48and is in fluid communication with the outlet end of each of the tubes76. It has been found that by positioning the coolant tubes and headersin the manner shown and described air passing through the airdesuperheater 48 will first pass across the relatively warm portions ofthe plates 78 and then across the cooler portions thereof, the upperportions of the plates 78 and tubes 76 being slightly warmer as a resultof heat transfer occuring in the lower portions of the air desuperheaterand thus causing warming of the coolant. A conduit 84 connects theoutlet header 82 to the burner injectors or nozzles 26 of the engine 22.If desired, the conduit 62 connected to the outlet header 60 of themeans to remove moisture and carbon dioxide from the air at the inlet ofthe air desuperheater portion 48 of the heat exchanger can also beconnected to the conduit 84 as illustrated in the drawings.

A plurality of coolant tubes 90 are positioned in the condenser portion52 of the heat exchanger 44, and preferably each of the tubes 90 islooped and has the inlet end portion thereof at the lower portion of thecondenser 52 and has the outlet portion thereof in the upper portion ofthe condenser portion 52 as illustrated in FIG. 2, so that air enteringthe condenser portion from the air desuperheater portion passes acrossthe relatively warm portions of the coolant tubes first and then acrossthe relatively cool portions thereof as it moves toward the bottom ofthe condenser. A coolant inlet header 92 is positioned at the lowerportion of the condenserportion of the heat exchanger 44 and is in fluidcommunication with the inlet end of each of the tubes 90. A conduit 94connects the inlet header 92 to the outlet 38 of the hydrogen fuelstorage tank 34 so that the relatively cold hydrogen fuel can be passedthrough the tubes 90 and thus remove heat from air within the condenserandcool same.

A diaphragm operated control valve 98 is preferably provided and locatedin the conduit 94 adjacent the condenser portion 52 of the heatexchanger 44. A bypass conduit 100 is connected to the inlet header 56of the air desuperheater portion 48 of the heat exchanger 44 and to theconduit 94 between the valve 98 andthe hydrogen fuel storage tank 34. Arelay 102 is provided with the valve 98 and pneumatic or electricalinstrument lines 104 and 106 are provided with the relay and extend tothe throat 50 of the air desuperheater 48 and to the condenser portion52 and are operable to sense pressures therein and operate the relay 102to control the valve 98 and thereby selectively provide liquid hydrogenfuel from tank 34 to the condenser portion 52 of the heat exchanger 44or to the air desuperheater portion 48 through conduit 100. Byregulating the flow of coolant and thus cooling of the air in these twoportions of the heat exchanger a pressure drop is maintained between thethroat 50 of the air desuperheater portion 48 and the condenser portion52 of the heat exchanger 44.

A coolant outlet header 110 is provided in the upper portion of thecondenser portion 52 of the heat exchanger 44 and is in fluidcommunication with the outlet end of each of the coolant tubes 90 withinthe condenser. A conduit 112 connects the outlet header of the condenserportion 52 with the bypass conduit 100 leading to the inlet header ofthe air desuperheater portion 48. A check valve 114 is positioned in theconduit 112 and is operable to permit coolant flow from the condenserportion 52 and outlet header 110 through conduit to the inlet header 80of the air desuperheater portion 48 only.

A three-way valve 120, FIG. 1,. is provided and has one outlet thereofoperatively connected to the conduit 84 by a conduit 122 to providehydrogen fuel from the valve to conduit 84 and to the nozzle 26 of theengine 22. A hydrogen fuel booster pump 124 is provided and has theoutlet thereof connected to the inlet 36 of the hydrogen fuel storagetank 34 to provide hydrogen fuel thereto under pressure. The inlet ofthe pump 124 is connected to another outlet of the three-way valve 120and receives hydrogen fuel therefrom. A conduit 126 is connected in oneend portion to the inlet of the three-way valve 120 and is connected inthe other end portion to the conduit 122 from the outlet header of thecondenser 52 and is preferably positioned between the check valve 114and the header 110.

Control means are preferably provided with the three-way valve to directthe flow of fuel received by the valve either to the hydrogen fuelstorage tank 34 or to the nozzles 26 through conduit 84. Preferably thecontrol means includes a relay 128 which has temperature sensing means130 and 132 therewith which are connected in their end portions to theoutlet 38 and inlet 36 of the hydrogen fuel storage tank 34,respectively, so that when the hydrogen fuel being supplied to tank 34by pump 124 reaches a predetermined high temperature, the valve 120closes to the pump 124 and the hydrgen fuel in conduit 126 is directedthrough conduit 122 and conduit 84 to the engine 22. This preventsrecirculation of relatively high temperature hydrogen fuel which mayreach a temperature sufficiently high, so that heat removal within thecondenser 52 and air desuperheater portion 48 is substantially reduced.On the other hand, when thehydrogen fuel received by conduit 126 isrelatively cold the valve 120 operates to recirculate a portion of thehydrogen fuel through pump 124 into tank 34 for subsequent use andadditional cooling of air in the heat exchanger 44. Thus, maximum andefficient use of the hydrogen fuel is obtained in operation.

A control valve 140, preferably of the diaphragm operated type ispositioned in conduit 126 and has a relay 142 operatively connectedthereto. An instrument line 144 is connected to the relay and to a heatsensing element 146 in the throat 50 of the air desuperheater portion 48of the heat exchanger 44, and the relay 142 is operable in response tothe temperature in the throat 50 to control the valve to open same at arelatively low temperature in the throat 50 and close the valve at arelatively high temperature in the throat and thus regulate the flow ofhydrogen fuel from header 110 through conduit 112 and check valve 114into the desuperheater portion 48 of the heat exchanger. A control valve148 is provided in the bypass conduit 100 leading to the inlet header 80of the air desuperheater portion and is operatively connected byinstrument line 150 to relay 142 so that the valve 148 is opened atrelatively high temperatures in the throat 50 of the air desuperheaterportion 48 of the heat exchanger and closed at relatively lowtemperatures therein so that relatively cold hydrogen fuel directly fromthe tank 34 can be supplied through conduit 94, bypass conduit 100 andvalve 148 directly to the inlet header 80 of the air desuperheaterportion 48 of the heat exchanger when the temperature of air leavingthroat 50 becomes higher than desired.

An air condensate well 160 is provided in the condenser portion 52 ofthe heat exchanger and is desirably located substantially opposite fromthe throat 50 of the air desuperheater portion 48. In operation, liquidair condensed in the condenser 52 drains to and is collected in the well160. A liquid air conduit 162 is connected to the well 160 to removeliquid air therefrom. The other end portion of the liquid air conduit162 is connected to the burner nozzles 26 to provide liquid air to theengine for oxidation of the hydrogen fuel provided thereto throughconduits 84 and 122.

A bypass conduit 164, FIG. 1, connects the intermediate portion of theliquid air conduit 162 to the inlet 42 of the liquid air storage tank 40and preferably the tank 40 floats on the conduit 162, that is it eitherreceives liquid air from the conduit 162 or discharges liquid airthereto in response to requirements of the engine means. Preferably aliquid air pump 166 is provided in conduit 162 to transfer the liquidair from the well 160 and desirably the pump 166 is located between well160 and conduit 164. A valve 168 is provided in conduit 162 betweenbypass conduit 164 and the burner nozzles 26 of the engine, and thevalve preferably has a control line 170 therewith operatively connectedto the conduit 84 so that the valve 168 regulates the flow of liquid airto the nozzles 26 in response to the pressure or volume of fluid passingthrough conduit 84.

Means are preferably provided to fractionate the air condensed bycondenser 52 into fractions containing oxygen and nitrogen so that therelatively large volumes of nitrogen which are inert and do not aid incombustion of the hyrogen fuel can be removed. Fractionization of theliquid is preferably obtained by an air rectifying column or packedtower shown generally at 180 which has a housing 182 opening into theupper portion of the liquid oxygen storage tank 40. Housing 182 has aplurality of nozzles 184 therein which are connected to the outlet 42 ofthe liquid air storage tank 40 by a conduit 186. An air rectifyingcolumn recirculating pump 188 is preferably provided to transfer liquidair from tank 40 or directly from conduit 162 to the nozzles 184 whichdischarge same into the housing 182.

Means are provided to heat the bottom of housing 182 of the airrectifying column to a temperature sufficient to vaporize the liquidair. Since atmospheric air is substantially warmer than the boilingtemperatures of liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen this heating functionis preferably provided by a dump conduit 190 which opens in one endportion at the air inlet diffuser portion 46 of the heat exchanger toreceive atmospheric air therein and has the other end portion thereofpositioned at the exhaust portion 30 of the engine means 22. Duringflight of the rocket 10, air from the atmosphere passes through conduit190 due to the pressure differential existing at the end portionsthereof. A conduit 192 is secured in its end portions to conduit 190 andis in fluid communication therewith to receive air therefrom at theupstream or inlet end portion thereof. The intermediate portions ofconduit 192 are positioned around the bottom of the housing 182 of theair rectifying column or packed tower and passage of atmospheric airthrough conduits 190 and 192 provides sufficient warming of the liquidair being discharged into the housing 182 by the nozzles 184 to vaporizethe air.

A valve 194 is preferably provided in the inlet end of conduit 192 andhas control means therewith operable to open and close same in responseto the temperature in the air rectifying column to control thevaporization process. The control means for valve 194 can be provided bya relay 196 which is connected to the valve 194 by a control line 198and connected by a control line 200 to a heat sensing element 202positioned within the housing 182 of the air rectifying column or towerwith the relay 196 being operable to open and close valve 194 tomaintain the temperature within the column within the desired range.

Means are also preferably provided to cool the top or upper portion ofthe housing 182 of the air rectifying column 180. This can beaccomplished in the manner illustrated in the drawings wherein a conduit203 is provided and is connected in its end portions to the conduit 94from the hydrogen fuel storage tank 34 and to the conduit 126 leading tothe engine means 22. The intermediate portion of the conduit 203 ispositioned around the upper portion of the housing 182 and since apressure differential exists between the conduit 94 and 126 hydrogenfuel flows through the conduit 203 to cool the upper portion of thetank.

Preferably conduit 203 has a valve 205 therein which can be of thediaphragm operated type and is desirably controlled in response to thetemperature within housing 182 to open and close the valve and regulatethe flow of hydrogen fuel through conduit 203. The temperature controlcan be provided by a heat sensing element 207 positioned in the upperportion of the housing 182 with the element 202 and valve 205 each beingconnected to a relay 209 and in operation the valve 205 opens and closesin response to the temperature of the heat sensing element 207. Thecooling means in the upper portion of the housing 182 and the heatingmeans in the lower portion thereof operate to establish and maintain atemperature differential from the lower or bottom portion of the towerto the top or upper portion thereof.

During operation of the rectifying column, liquid air discharged intothe housing 182 is vaporized in the warmer or lower portion of thehousing and the vapors rise in the tower. A partial condensation of thevapor occurs in the upper portion of the housing or column and theresulting liquid is rich in oxygen and is retumed to the storage tank 40while the remaining vapor is rich in nitrogen and is exhausted. For thispurpose an exhaust conduit 204 is provided and is connected in its endportions to the upper portion of housing 182 and to the dump conduit anddesirably has a relief valve 206 therein which is operable to open anddischarge the vaporized portion of liquid air containing nitrogen gas tothe dump conduit 190 upon reaching a predetermined pressure value.

During operation of the condenser portion 52 of the heat exchanger 44certain gases present in the atmosphere, for example, neon and helium,which are incondensable will tend to build up or fill the condenserportion 52 and means are provided to discharge the incondensable gasesto the atmosphere. For this purpose I same to the atmosphere. Preferablyan ejector or gas pump 215 is provided in conduit 214 to deliver thesegases to dump conduit 190.

In operating the propulsion means of FIGS. 1 and 2, liquid hydrogen fuelis provided to the hydrogen fuel storage tank 34 and preferablymaintained at a pressure sufficient to cover losses and deliver the fuelto the engine, for example, a pressure of approximately 500 pounds persquare inch. The hydrogen fuel is initially at a low temperature, forexample approximately 45 Rankine. An oxidizer is provided to the enginemeans during lift off of the vehicle and such can be provided byoperation of the heat exchanger means to produce liquid air in themanner described herein and in such instance the vehicle preferablyremains stationary until sufficient liquid air is produced and stored tosupply the engine requirements for initial portions of the flight. Theliquid air produced and stored should be sufficient to supply the enginemeans during lift-off and during initial period of flight where use ofoxidizer may exceed the production rate. As an alternative, the airstorage tank 40 can be initially partially filled with an oxidizingmaterial, such as liquid oxygen, with such being provided throughconduits 164 and 162 to the burner nozzles of the engine during lift-offand initial portions of the flight. Liquid hydrogen fuel is providedthrough the outlet 38 of the tank 34 and through conduit 94 and theconduits leading from the heat exchanger 44 to the engine means andmixed therein with the oxidizer and ignited to lift the vehicle.

During operation, air from the atmosphere is funneled into the airdesuperheater portion of the heat exchanger 44 through the air inletdiffuser. The size of the air inlet varies with the size of the vehicle,an area of approximately 30 to 90 square feet being satisfactory forvehicles having a take-off weight of approximately 100,000 pounds.Simultaneously liquid hydrogen fuel at approximately 45 R is provided tothe tubes 54 in the air desuperheater or liquid oxygen is provided fromtank 40 through conduit 66 to header 68, conduits 70 and spray nozzles72 and sprayed into the air desuperheater to freeze moisture and carbondioxide present in the air so that the air entering the intermediateportion of the airdesuper heater is substantially dried. This preventsthe formation of ice in the heat exchanger.

The substantially dried atmospheric air then passes across the rows offins 78 in the air desuperheater 48 at velocities up to approximatelyMach one and simultaneously the fins are cooled by passing liquidhydrogen fuel from storage tank 34 through the conduits or tubes 76 andthe heat seeking or sensing element 146 in the throat 50 of the airdesuperheater portion 46 operates the relay 142 to regulate the flow ofliquid hydrogen fuel through the coolant tubes 76 so that theatmospheric air leaves the throat 50 of the air desuperheater at atemperature of approximately 200 Rankine. The air leaves the airdesuperheater throat 50 ahd passes into the relatively large condenserportion 52 of the heat exchanger.

The pressure control system, including relay 102 and pressure meansassociated therewith, operates the valve 98 to control passage ofhydrogen fuel into the tubes 90 of the condenser portion 52 of the heatexchanger to cause condensation of air therein and create a pressuredrop between the desuperheater portion and the condenser portion of theheat exchanger. By establishing a pressure drop across the throat 50 ofthe heat exchanger critical flow is obtained at this point and thus themass flow is a maximum and the physical size of the heat exchanger aminimum for a given pressure and temperature. Also, this permitsdividing of the load between the desuperheating and the condensingsections of the heat exchanger.

The air entering the condenser 52 is passed over the coolant tubestherein which are also being supplied with liquid hydrogen fuel atapproximately 45 Rankine to thereby cool the air to a low temperature,preferably below Rankine, which results in condensation of thecondensable portions of the air therein. The incondensable gasesincluding neon and helium received by the condenser 52 are exhausted tothe atmosphere through conduit 214 and dump conduit 190 leading to theexhaust portion 30 of the engine means.

The aircondensed in the condenser portion 52 is collected in the aircondensate well and transferred by the liquid airpump 166 to the liquidair storage tank 40 and to the engine nozzles 26. Atleast a portion ofthe liquid air received by the storage tank 40 is transferred by thepump 188 to the air rectifying column or packed tower and dischargedthereinto from the nozzles 184. Simultaneously air from the atmosphereis passed through the dump conduit 190, into the conduit 192 and throughvalve 194 to warm the lower portion of the housing 182 of the airrectifying column and hydrogen fuel passes through conduit 203 to coolthe upper por' tion of housing 182 to thereby fractionate the liquid airinto a gaseous portion and a liquid portion, the gaseous portion beingrich in nitrogen as a result of heating of the liquid air sprayed intothe air rectifying column. The gaseous fraction of the air istransferred through conduit 204 and valve 206 to the dump conduit andexhausted to the atmosphere. The portion of the liquid air rich inliquid oxygen is returned to the liquid air storage tank 40 through theopen end of the housing 182 and when supplied to the burner nozzles 26of the engine is used for oxidizing the hydrogen fuel therein. The fuelis mixed with the liquid air and ignited in the combustion chamber 24 ofthe engine means 22 and the resulting exhaust gases are directedoutwardly through the neck portion 28 of the engine means and exhaustportion 30 thereof to the atmosphere in one direction and-causes anequal and opposite force to be directed on the rocket itself to propelsame in the opposite direction.

During operation of the system, the relay 102 and control meansassociated therewith functions to provide the desired pressure dropbetween the throat 50 of the air desuperheater 48 and the condenserportion 52. At the same time the relay 142 functions in response to thetemperature of the heat sensing element 146 in the throat 50 of the airdesuperheater portion 48 to regulate the flow of hydrogen fuel coolantinto the air desuperheater portion of the heat exchanger in response tothe temperature at the throat so that a substantially constanttemperature is obtained for the cooled atmospheric air entering thecondenser.

These control means for the heat exchanger are quite desirable, sinceunder various conditions of flight the load of the condenser and airdesuperheater will change relative to each other. For example, duringinitial movement of the rocket and while the velocity thereof isrelatively low the condenser load is relatively great and the load ofthe air desuperheater is relatively small. When the rocket reaches asubstantial velocity the mass of air passing through the airdesuperheater increases and the desuperheater requires additional liquidhydrogen fuel to cool the air passing therethrough and valve 148 isopened so that additional liquid hydrogen fuel directly from tank 34 issupplied to the tubes 76 across the air desuperheater portion.

Some of the nitrogen containing liquid air is transferred directly bypump 166 to the engine 22, however the large portion thereof isfractionated by operation of the air rectifying column 180 to remove theinert nitrogen portion of the liquid air.

The hydrogen fuel stored in the tank means 34 is at a relatively coldtemperature, preferably in the range of 25 to 65 Rankine. it has beenfound that at these temperatures diatomic molecules of hydrogen have twomolecular forms which are related to the nuclear spins. These forms areortho hydrogen in which the nuclei spin in the same direction and parahydrogen in which the nuclei spin in the. opposite direction. Whilethese two forms of hyrogen have the same physical properties in mostinstances, there is a difference between the internal energy levels ofthe ortho and para forms of hydrogen and at a specified constanttemperature heat must be added to the para hydrogen form to convert itto the ortho hydrogen form. For this reason the hydrogen stored in tankmeans 34 is preferably in the para form and the para to ortho heat ofconversion and the relatively high specific heat capacity of thehydrogen provides a highly attractive heat sink. The para to orthohydrogen conversion can be accelerated by the addition of suitablecatalysts and, hydrous ferric oxide and Cr O Al O have been found to besatisfactory catalysts for this purpose.

The performance of a rocket or similar vehicle such as shown in theapplication and described hereinbefore has been determined. Thisanalytical determination is based upon a vehicle having an initialtake-off weight of approximately 100,000 pounds and where the engineexerted a substantially constant thrust of approximately 200,000 poundswith the vehicle having a vertical trajectory. For purposes of thecalculations the effect of nitrogen stripping and regenerative coolingon the performance of the vehicle was not evaluated and the values givendo not include data for the deicing means. Also, it was assumed thatninety per cent conversion of para to ortho hydrogen was obtained. Forthe calculations the condenser terminal temperature difference, that isthe temperature difference between the condensing air temperature andthe leaving hydrogen coolant temperature, was taken at 20 Rankine andthe temperature of the atmospheric air leaving the throat 50 of the airdesuperheater 48 was considered a constant 200 Rankine. The nozzlevelocity of the vehicle was considered to be a constant 5,500 feet persecond. Computations were made to obtain operation data as the air inletarea varied from 40 to 80 square feet, such being a significant variablesince the air inlet size determines the total volume or mass of airreceived by the heat exchanger and available for condensation and thusdetermines the total volume of liquid air available as an oxidizer forthe fuel in the engine. Under these conditions the acceleration of thevehicle varied from a value of approximately feet per second squared atan altitude of 30,000 feet to approximately 40 feet per second square atan altitude of 100,000 feet for a vehicle having an air inlet area of 80square feet and varied from approximately 25 feet per second square at40,000 feet altitude to approximately feet per second square at 150,000feet altitude for a vehicle having an air inlet of 40 square feet. Underthese conditions the vehicle velocity increased to a value ofapproximately 1,500 feet per second at 100,000 feet altitude for thevehicle having an air inlet area of 80 square feet and for the vehiclehaving a 40 square feet air inlet area the velocity increased toapproximately 3,500 feet per second at an altitude of 150,000 feet.

The flight time determined for the vehicle having 40 square feet of airinlet area was approximately 1 10 seconds during which time the vehiclereached an altitude of approximately 160,000 feet. For the vehiclehaving the air inlet area of 80 square feet a flight time ofapproximately seconds and altitude of approximately 100,000 feet wasindicated.

Since the rocket or vehicle including the propulsion means of theinvention will continue to take on oxygen and store same during flightthrough the atmosphere and particularly at the relatively lowatmospheric levels where the amount of oxygen in the air is relativelyhigh the weight of the vehicle varies with the altitude of flight. Forexample, considering a vehicle having an air inlet area of 40 squarefeet and the weight of the vehicle was initially 100,000 pounds, theweight decreased to approximately 92,000 pounds at an altitude ofapproximately 3,000 to 5,000 feet at which time the weight began toincrease as the total volume of oxygen or liquid air stored in thevehicle increased so that the total weight of the vehicle wasapproximately 105,000 pounds at and altitude of 30,000 to 40,000 feetand the vehicle weight then decreased steadily to a final weight ofapproximately 50,000 pounds at an altitude of 150,000 feet. The finalweight is less than the initial weight, since all fuel and oxidizer areexhausted in flight. For a vehicle having an air inlet area of 80 squarefeet, the weight decreased from an initial weight of 100,000 pounds toapproximately 95,000 pounds at 1,000 feet and then increased to a totalweight of approximately l55,000 pounds at 35,000 to 45,000 feet ofaltitude with the total weight then decreasing to a value ofapproximately 115,000 pounds at an altitude of 100,000 feet. From thisdata maximum performance of the heat exchanger as indicated by the totalweight on the vehicle occurs at an altitude of between 20,000 and 50,000feet of altitude where the velocity of the vehicle is relatively highand where the atmosphere is relatively dense in terms of oxygen presentin the air.

The amount of air stored on the vehicle during flight of the vehicle isalso related to the air inlet area and the altitude of the vehicle andcomputations indicate that a vehicle having an air inlet area of 40square feet stores a maximum of approximately 25,000 pounds of airthereon when it reaches an altitude of approximately 40,000 to 50,000feet and that a vehicle having air inlet area of approximately 80 squarefeet stores approximately 95,000 pounds of air as it reaches an altitudeof 40,000 to 50,000 feet. In both instances the air stored on thevehicle decreases above the altitude of maximum storage indicated, sincethe vehicle then uses the air stored for combustion in the engine meansat a rate greater than the condensing rate of the heat exchanger. Sincethe weight of the vehicle varies considerably with the air inlet rateand the amount of air stored therein the fuel exhausted during theflight is also variable with the altitude of the vehicle and the amountof fuel exhausted increases relatively rapidly during the first 50,000feet of flight during which time 20,000 pounds of fuel is exhausted fora vehicle having an air inlet area of 40 square feet and the use of fuelthen increases relatively gradually to a maximum of approximately 25,000pounds at an altitude of approximately 160,000 feet. For a vehiclehaving an air inlet area of approximately 80 square feet the amount offuel exhausted increases relatively rapidly to approximately 60,000 feetwith the fuel expended to that altitude totaling approximately 47,000pounds and with the fuel exhausted then decreasing to a total ofapproximately 52,000 pounds at an altitude of 100,000 feet.

The air flow rate and the fuel flow rate in the heat exchanger are alsovariable with the altitude of the vehicle under the conditions set forthhereinbefore, and for a vehicle having a 40 square foot inlet area theair flow rate varies from approximately 400 pounds per second at 1,000feet of altitude to a maximum of approximately 1,700 pounds per secondat an altitude of 10,000 to 12,000 feet and then decreases toapproximately 1,500 pounds per second at an altitude of 20,000 feet. Fora vehicle having an air inlet area of 80 square feet the air flow rateincreases from approximately 750 pounds per second at 1,000 feetaltitude to approximately 2,800 pounds per second at an altitude of8,000 to 10,000 feet and then decreases to a rate of approximately 2,300pounds per second at an altitude of 20,000 feet. Under these sameconditions the fuel flow rate varies from approximately 100 pounds persecond at an altitude of 1,000 feet to approximately 450 pounds persecond at an altitude of 10,000 to 20,000 feet for a vehicle having anair inlet area of 40 square feet. For a vehicle having the air inletarea of approximately 80 square feet the fuel flow rate varies fromapproximately 200 pounds per second at 1,000 feet to approximately 800pounds per second at an altitude of approximately 8,000 to 10,000 feetand then decreases slightly to approximately 650 pounds per second manaltitude of 20,000 feet.

The heat transfer rate for the heat exchanger also varies with thealtitude of the vehicle. For example, assuming an air inlet area of 40square feet the heat transfer rate in the air desuperheater varies fromapproximately 25,000 BTU per second at 1,000 feet altitude to a maximumof approximately 120,000 BTU per second at 10,000 to 1 2,000 feetaltitude and then decreases to approximately 1 10,000 BTU per second at20,000 feet. For the same inlet area the condenser heat transfer ratevaries from approximately 40,000 BTU per second at 1,000 feet altitudeto approximately 185,000 BTU per second at 10,000 to 14,000 feetaltitude and then decreases to approximately 175,000 BTU per second at20,000 feet. For an air inlet area of approximately 80 square feet, thedesuperheater heat transfer rate varies from approximately 50,000 BTUper second at 1,000 feet altitude to approximately 185,000 BTU persecond at 6,000 to 8,000 feet and decreases from this altitude toapproximately 135,000 BTU per second at 20,000 feet altitude. For aninlet area of 80 square feet the condenser heat transfer rate variesfrom approximately 80,000 BTU per second at 1,000 feet altitude toapproximately 310,000 BTU per second at approximately 7,000 to 12,000feet altitude and then decreases to approximately 250,000 BTU per secondat 20,000 feet of altitude.

The condensing pressure of air in condenser 52 is a variable and dependsupon the temperature and pressure of the air therein. Since air is amixture of gases, its condensing temperature for a constant pressureprocess varies slightly. However, this temperature variation isrelatively small and for the: purposes of the calculation, it wasassumed to be a constant temperature process. The air cooling in the airdesuperheater, on the other hand, is a varying pressure, varyingtemperature process. With these assumptions the condensing pressures ofa typical rocket based upon the given values set forth hereinbefore werecomputed, and it was found that for a rocket having an air inlet area of40 square feet the condensing pressure varied from approximately 2,000pounds per square foot at initial lift off ofthe vehicle to a value ofapproximately pounds per square foot at an altitude of 150,000 feet, thecondensing pressure varying relatively quickly during the first 50,000to 60,000 feet of altitude and being at approximately 750 pounds persquare foot at an altitude of 50,000 feet. For a rocket having an airinlet, of approximately square feet, condensing pressure varies fromapproximately 2,000 pounds per square foot at lift-off to approximately10 pounds per square foot at an elevation of 100,000 feet with the rateof change being substantially the same as that described for the 40square foot inlet area rocket. I l

The inlet total temperature also varies with altitud and for a 40 squarefoot inlet area the temperature varies from approximately 520 Rankine atlift-off to approximately l,450 Rankine at 150,000 feet. Likewise theinlet total temperature for a rocket having an air inlet of 80 squarefeet varies from approximately 520 Rankine at liftoff to approximately600 Rankine at 100,000 feet.

As will be seen from the foregoing figures regarding the variablesencountered in the heat exchanger operation, the control meansregulating the flow of hydrogen fuel through the condenser and airdesuperheater portions are quite desirable and provide means forcompensating for the changing loads of the condenser and desuperheaterin accordance with various conditions encountered. Also, when thetrajectory of the missile or vehicle deviates from a vertical missionsuch control means are especially important in order to continuouslycondense air during flight.

The foregoing discussion regarding the values and operation of thepropulsion means have ,been based upon a constant throat temperature forthe air desuperheater of 200 Rankine. This temperature can also be avariable and a change in this temperature affects the heat transfer rateand loads in both the condenser and desuperheater. For example, assuminga total vehicle weight of 100,000 pounds having; an engine thrust of200,000 pounds with a characteristic nozzle velocity of 5,500 feet persecond, and assuming a total air inlet area of 40 square feet with atotal terminal temperature difference across the condenser of 20Rankine, then a change in the throat temperature from 200 Rankine toRankine will increase the heat transfer rate required in the airdesuperheater by approximately 25,000 BTU per second over the altituderange of from 6,000 to 20,000 feet. At the same time the heat transferrate in the condenser portion of the heat exchanger will be reduced by25,000 to 30,000 BTU per second over the same altitude range. Thetemperature at the throat of the air desuperheater can be regulatedeither by controlling the flow of coolant into the air desuperheaterportion of the heat exchanger or by the length of the air desuperheaterthrough which the air must pass during cooling thereof, a longerdesuperheater section serving to cool the air to a lower temperature.

The foregoing data is based on a condenser terminal temperaturedifference of Rankine. The effect of a change in the condenser terminaltemperature difference on the performance of the system has beencalculated and based on the given data for a 100,000 pound vehicle asset forth hereinbefore, and assuming an air inlet area of 40 square feetat an altitude of 10,000 feet the total fuel flow rate for a condenserterminal temperature of 10 Rankine is approximately 400 pounds persecond, for a 20 Rankine condenser terminal temperature difference thefuel flow rate is approximately 425 pounds per second, for a 40 Rankineterminal temperature difference the fuel flow rate is approximately 550pounds per second and for a 60 Rankine condenser terminal temperaturedifference the fuel flow rate is approximately 800 pounds per second.

Since the total air received by the vehicle for condensation is directlyproportionate to the total air inlet area, the heat rate or heattransfer load is also variable in relation to the inlet area. For the100,000 pound vehicle described having a condenser terminal temperaturedifference of 20 Rankine and nozzle velocity of 5,500 feet per secondand assuming a temperature of 200 Rankine at the throat of the airdesuperheater portion of the heat exchanger, the heat rate varies fromapproximately 120,000 BTU per second for an inlet area of 40 square feetto approximately 190,000 BTU per second for an air inlet area ofapproximately 80 square feet.

It has also been determined that for a 200,000 pound thrust vehicle andwith a heat exchanger unit weight of 1 pound per square foot of areaobtained by design of the heat exchanger that the heat exchanger weightincreases as the condenser terminal temperature difference decreases,that is for a condenser terminal temperature difference of 70 Rankinethe heat exchanger weight would be approximately 16,000 pounds and for acondenser terminal temperature difference of 20 Rankine the heatexchanger weight would be approximately 26,000 pounds. Using the samebasis, the total weight of the heat exchanger, fuel tank and fueltherein is determined in relation to the condenser terminal temperaturedifference and varies from approximately 52,000 pounds for a differenceof 20 R up to approximately 105,000 pounds for a condenser terminaltemperature difference of 70 Rankine.

The heat transfer load increases as the vehicle thrust increases, andthe additional heat transfer load requires an increase in the heatexchanger weight. In view of this, the propulsion means of the inventionis most desirable for vehicles having relatively low thrust to vehicletake-off weight ratios. In addition, since 30 per cent by weight of theair in the atmosphere is beneath 10,000 feet altitude and some 70 percent by weight of the air is present beneath 30,000 feet of altitude thesystem is most suitable for either low altitude boost missions or forapplications where at least initial portions of the trajectory are inaltitudes beneath 30,000

to 40,000 feet where air is stored for subsequent use in TABLE I HeatExchanger Weight per sq. n. l lb. 0.75 lb. 0.50 lb. 0.25 lb. Take-offWeight, lb. 100,000 100,000 100,000 100,000 Thrust, lb. 200,000 200,000200,000 200.000 Air Inlet Area, R. 40 40 40 40 Nozzle Velocity, fps5,500 5,500 5.500 .500 Temperature Leaving Desuper-heater, R 200 200 200200 Condenser-Terminal- Temp.-Diff., R 30 25 20 10 Bum-out Altitude, ft.1 10,000 107,500 105,000 100.000 Burn-out Velocity,

2,500 2,450 2,400 2,300 Mission Time, sec. 94 93 92 Bum-out Weight, lb.73,500 74,750 76,000 78,000

Fuel Required, lb. 26,500 25,250 24,000 22,000 Fuel Tank at 3%, lb. 795760 720 660 Maximum Air Stored, lb. 25,000 24,500 24,000 22,000 AirSurge Tank at 3%, lb. 750 735 720 660 Power Plant 8:. Pump Weight, lb.2,670 2,670 2,670 2,670

Connecting Struct. & Misc. lb 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 Heat ExchangerWeight, lb. 22,390 18,054 12,875 7,750 Total Weight Empty, lb. 28,60524,219 18,985 13,740

Payload, lb. 44,895 50,531 57,015 64,260

These figures indicate a significant improvement over payload carried bypresent chemical rockets.

FIG. 3 of the drawings illustrates a modification or embodiment of theinvention wherein means are provided for storage and subsequentrecirculation of at least a portion of the hydrogen fuel previously usedfor cooling prior to transfer of the fuel to the engine means. Such asembodiment or modification is quite desirable where total heat transferto the liquid hydrogen fuel is relatively low due to the condensingtemperature or volume of air being condensed at any specific time andwhere the recirculated hydrogen fuel can be mixed with the relativelycold hydrogen fuel from the storage tank 34. The embodiment of FIG. 3 isthe same as that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 with the exception of theaddition of the surge tank and related apparatus, it being understoodthat the liquid hydrogen fuel tank, liquid oxygen storage tank andrectifying means or fractionating means of FIGS. 1 and 2 are alsoutilized with the surge tank and related structure of FIG. 3.

In FIG. 3 a liquid hydrogen fuel surge tank is shownat 220 and has aninlet 222 and an outlet 224. The surge tank 220 is preferably locatedbetween the hydrogen fuel storage tank 34 and the heat exchanger means44. In this embodiment the hydrogen fuel is supplied under pressure tothe heat exchanger 44 by operation of a fuel pump 226 in conduit 94between the valve means 98 and the hydrogen fuel tank 34. Use of thefuel pump 226 is an alternative to the use of the pump 124 illustratedin FIG. 1. A control valve 228 is provided downstream or on the suctionside of the pump 226 and valve 228 is normally open during initialportions of the flight of the rocket means and pump 226 then transfershydrogen fuel directly from tank 34 and supplies same to the heatexchanger 44 and then to the engine as explained hereinbefore. The dumpconduit 126 leading from the condenser outlet header has a three-wayvalve 230 therein and a conduit 232 connects the valve 230 to the inlet222 of the surge tank 220.

A conduit 234 connects the outlet 224 of surge tank 220 to the fuel pump226 and has a control valve 236 therein. A relay 238 is provided withthe control valves 236 and 228 and is operatively connected through arelay 240 to pressure sensing means 242 located in the condenser portion52 of the heat exchanger 44. The relay 238 in connection with thepressure sensing means 242 is operable to open valve 236 at highcondenser pressures and close the valve at relatively low condenserpressures. The relay 238 operates to close the valve 228 on highcondenser pressures and open same on low condenser pressures. The relay240 operates control valve 230 to provide hydrogen fuel from conduit 126to the surge tank on relatively low condenser pressures in the condenser52 and to bypass the surge tank 220 on high condenser pressures.

During start-up conditions the condenser load or duty is always largerthan the air desuperheater load and for some missiles and missiletrajectorys this condition is always true. However, if the missile speedbecomes large, and thus the kinetic energy associated with the incomingair is large, the air desuperheater load becomes larger than thecondenser load. See FIG. 4.

When the condenser load is larger than the desuperheater load, therequired coolant flow through the condenser is larger than the requiredcoolant flow through.

the desuperheater. The control valve 140 is opened and part of thecoolant flow from the condenser bypasses the air desuperheater. Asmissile speed increases the load on the desuperheater section of theheat exchanger increases and the load on the condenser decreases byoperation of the pressure control system including relay 102 and controllines 104 and 106; which:

operate valve 98. Thus, as missile speed increases the control valve 140closes and additional coolant is supplied through conduit 112 to the airdesuperheater portion of the heat exchanger.

The temperature curve in FIG. 4 is the temperature of the coolantleaving the condenser and this temperature rises as the missile speedincreases. As a result of this the coolant flow used at the first partof the trajectory where the coolant. temperature leaving the condenseris relatively low and can be stored in surge tank 220 and subsequentlyre-used. Thus, during the first part of the trajectory, the excess ofthe relatively low temperature coolant leaving the condenser that is notrequired in the desuperheater passes through valve 140, conduit 126 andthree-way valve 230 into the surge tank 220. During this time. valve 140istopen and valve 228 is open and three-way valve 230 is open to thesurge tank 220. Valve 236 from the surge tank 220 is closed. When themissile reaches a relatively high speed and the condensing pressureincreases, the relay 240 causes the three-way valve 230 to close to thesurge tank 232. Coolant flow then not required. for desuperheating istransferred through conduit 126 to the engine means. At this time thecontrol valve 236 is opened and coolant flows from surge tank 230intothe pump 226. Preferably, the coolant fromsurge tank 226 isproportioned between the surge tank 220 and the hydrogen fuel storagetank 34. With the pump 226 for transferring the hydrogen fuel, the fuelin the surge tank is at relatively high pressures as a result ofoperation of pump 226 and the surge tank pressure is high in outlet endof each of said coolant tubes, a conduit concomparison to that in thetank 34. Therefore, the fuel from surge tank 220 is preferably fed intothe pump 226 at the last stages of the pump.

The advantages of the surge tank 220 and recirculation system of FIG. 3is illustrated in FIG. 5. In FIG. 5 a missile flying a verticaltrajectory to 60,000 feet with a constant acceleration of 6 g. isillustrated with the savings in coolant flow as a result of recyclingthe coolant being the difference between the upper and lower curves. Thenet average coolant flow rate using the systern of FIG. 3 is reducedfrom approximately 9.7 pounds to approximately 8.4 pounds coolant flowper pound of fuel burned for the given condition.

While the rocket means of the invention has been described in connectionwith preferred specific embodiments thereof, it will be apparent tothose skilled in the art that various modifications or changes can bemade therein without departing from the spirit of this disclosure or thescope of the claims.

. I claim:

I. A rocket comprising, in combination, a housing having a generallycylindrical centerportion joined at the ends to an open exhaust endportion and an open inlet end portion, a plurality of fins secured tosaid exhaust end portion of said housing tapering toward theintermediate portion of said housing with the inner end portion of saidfins being in streamlined engagement with said housing, a rocket enginehaving a combustion chamber with burner nozzles and an enlargedfrustoconical exhaust portionhaving the relatively small end portionthereof in communication with said chamber to receive gases therefromand having the relatively large end portion thereof opening to theatmosphere at said exhaust end portion of said housing, a liquidhydrogen fuel storage tank positioned within said housing and having aninlet and an outlet, a liquid air storage tank positioned within saidhousing, a heat exchanger positioned within said housing and having ahollow air inlet diffuser portion at one end portion thereof openinginto a centrally located elongated air desuperheater portion having athroat opening into an enlarged air condenser portion, means positionedat the inlet of said air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger toremove moisture from air passing therethrough, said air inlet diffuserportion of said heat exchanger being frustoconical in shape and havingthe relatively large end portion thereof positioned at said open inletportion of said housing to receive air therein, a plurality of passes ofcoolanttubes in said air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger, aplurality of spaced plates secured to said tubes with said plates beingparallel to each other and to the axis of said air desuperheater portionof said heat-exchanger, a coolant inlet header in fluid communicationwith the inlet end of each of said coolant tubes, an outlet header influid communication with the necting said last-named header to saidburner nozzles of said rocket engine, a plurality of coolant tubes insaid condenser portion of said heat exchanger, each having the inlet endthereof at the lower portion of said condenser portion and having theoutlet end thereof at v the upper portion of said condenser portion, acoolant inlet headerpositioned at the lower portion of said condenserportion of said heat exchanger and in fluid communication with saidinlet end of each of said condenser coolant tubes, a conduit connectingsaid lastnamed header to said outlet of saidl hydrogen fuel storagetank, a diaphragm operated control valve in said last-named conduit, aby-pass conduit connecting said inlet header of said air desuperheaterportion of said heat exchanger to said last-named conduit between saidvalve and said hydrogen fuel storage tank, a relay with said valve,pneumatic instrument lines with said relay and with said condenserportion and said throat of said air desuperheater portion of said heatexchanger operable to sense pressures therein and operate said relay tocontrol said valve and selectively provide liquid hydrogen to saidcondenser portion to thereby maintain a pressure drop between saidthroat of said air desuperheater portion and said condenser portion ofsaid heat exchanger, a coolant outlet header positioned at the upperportion of said condenser portion of said heat exchanger and in fluidcommunication with said outlet end of each of said condenser coolanttubes, a conduit connecting said outlet header of said condenser portionwith said bypass conduit to said inlet header of said air desuperheaterportion of said heat exchanger, a check valve in said last-named conduitoperable to permit coolant flow from said condenser portion to said airdesuperheater portion of said heat exchanger only, a three-way valvehaving one outlet thereof operatively connected to said conduitconnecting said outlet header of said air desuperheater portion of saidheat exchanger to said burner nozzles of said engine, a coolant boosterpump having the inlet thereof connected to another outlet of saidthree-way valve with the outlet of said pump being connected to saidinlet of said hydrogen fuel storage tank, another conduit having one endportion secured to and in fluid communication with said last-namedconduit between said check valve and said outlet header of saidcondenser portion and having the other end portion thereof connected tothe inlet of said three-way valve, a relay with said three-way valvehaving temperature sensing means therewith operatively connected to saidinlet and said outlet of said hydrogen fuel storage tank and operable toclose said three-way valve to the passage of hydrogen fuel therethroughto said storage tank when said fuel reaches a predetermined temperature,a diaphragm operated control valve in said last-named conduit, a relaywith said last-named control valve, a pneumatic instrument line withsaid relay and with said throat of said desuperheater portion of saidheat exchanger operable in response to the temperature in said throat ofsaid desuperheater of said heat exchanger to operate said relay to opensaid last-named control valve at a relatively low temperature in saidthroat and close said last-named valve at a relatively high temperaturein said throat, a diaphragm operated control valve in said bypassconduit, said last-named control valve being operatively connected tosaid last-named relay to be opened at relatively high temperatures insaid throat and closed at relatively low temperatures in said throat ofsaid desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger, an air condensatewell in said condenser portion of said heat exchanger opposite from saidair desuperheater portion thereof, a liquid air conduit connected in oneend portion to the outlet of said air condensate well and connected inthe other end portion to said burner nozzles of said rocket engine, abypass conduit connected in one end portion to an intermediate portionof said liquid air conduit and connected in the other end portion to theinlet of said liquid air storage tank, a liquid air pump in said liquidair conduit positioned between said air condensate well and saidlast-named bypass conduit to provide liquid air to said burner nozzlesand to said liquid air storage tank, valve means in said liquid airconduit between said last-named bypass conduit and said burner nozzleswith said valve means being controlled by the pressure of fluid passingthrough said conduit connected to said outlet header of said airdesuperheater portion of said heat exchanger and said burner nozzles, aliquid air rectifying column on said liquid air storage tank openinginto said liquid air storage tank and having a plurality of nozzlestherein, a conduit connected in one end portion to said inlet of saidliquid air storage tank and connected in the other end portion to saidnozzles in said air rectifying column, an air rectifying columncirculating pump in said last-named conduit to provide liquid air fromsaid liquid air storage tank to said nozzle in said air rectifyingcolumn, a dump conduit extending from said air inlet diffuser portion ofsaid heat exchanger to said exhaust portion of said rocket engine, aconduit connected in its end portions to said dump conduit and havingthe intermediate portion thereof surrounding the lower portion of saidair rectifying column and operable to pass air from the atmospheretherethrough to provide heat to said air rectifying column and heat theliquid air therein and vaporize same, a valve in said last-namedconduit, valve control means with said last-named valve operable to openand close same in response to the temperature in said air rectifyingcolumn, a conduit connected in one end portion to said conduit connectedto said hydrogen fuel storage tank and to said inlet header of saidcondenser portion of said heat exchanger, the other end portion of saidlast-named conduit being connected to said conduit connected to saidoutlet header of said condenser portion of said heat exchanger with theintermediate portion of said lastnamed conduit being positioned aroundthe upper portion of said air rectifying column to cool same andcondense a portion of the vaporized air therein containing oxygen andreturn same to said liquid air storage tank, a valve in said last-namedconduit having valve control means therewith operable to open and closesaid valve in response to the temperature within said column, an exhaustconduit secured in one end portion to the upper portion of said airrectifying column and secured in the other end portion to said dumpconduit to discharge gases from said air rectifying column, a reliefvalve in said last-named conduit, a conduit secured in one end portionto said dump conduit and connected in the other end portion to the upperportion of said condenser portion of said heat exchanger and operable toreceive and discharge to said dump conduit incondensable gases receivedby said condenser portion, and a gas pump in said last-named conduit,said rocket being constructed and adapted to be initially fueled withliquid hydrogen in said hydrogen fuel storage tank with said hydrogenbeing circulated through said heat exchanger with air from theatmosphere being received by said heat exchanger through said air inletdiffuser and condensed in said condenser portion and subsequentlysupplied to said liquid air storage tank and said burner nozzles of saidengine by said liquid air pump and with hydrogen being burned in saidengine to propel said vehicle.

2. The rocket as defined in claim 1 wherein said means to removemoisture from air includes a plurality of coolant tubes positioned atthe inlet end of said air desuperheater and extending thereacross, aninlet header in fluid communication with the inlet end of each of saidlast-named coolant tubes, a conduit connected in its end portions tosaid last-named header and to said conduit connected to said outlet ofsaid hydrogen fuel storage tank, an outlet header in fluid communicationwith the outlet end of said last-named coolant tubes, a conduitconnecting said last-named header to said conduit connecting said outletheader of said air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger to saidburner nozzles of said engine, a plurality of fins mounted on saidlast-named coolant tubes in spaced relation, said fins on saidlast-named coolant tubes being cooled by the passage of hydrogen fueltherethrough to freeze thereon moisture in atmospheric air received fromsaid air inlet diffuser.

3. A rocket comprising, in combination, ahousing having an open exhaustend portion and an open inlet end portion, fins secured to the outersurface of said housing at said exhaust end portion thereof and taperingtoward the intermediate portion thereof with the upper end portion ofsaid fins being in streamlined engagement with said housing, a rocketengine mounted in said housing having a combustion chamber with burnernozzles therein and an enlarged frusto-conical exhaust portion havingone end portion thereof in communication with said chamber to receiveexhaust gases therefrom and having the other end portion thereof openingto the atmosphere at said exhaust end portion of said housing, a liquidhydrogen fuel storage tank mounted within said housing and having aninlet and an outlet, a liquid air storage tank positioned within saidhousing, a heat exchanger positioned within said housing and having ahollow air inlet diffuser portion in one end portion thereof positionedat said inlet endportion of said housing to receive air from theatmosphere, said heat exchanger having a centrally located airdesuperheater portion in fluid communication with said air inletdiffuser portion and having a throat opening into an enlarged aircondenser portion, means with the inlet of said air desuperheaterportion of said heat exchanger to remove moisture from air passingtherethrough, a plurality of coolant tubes passing through said airdesuperheater portion of said heat exchanger, an inlet header in fluidcommunication with the inlet end of each of said coolant tubes, anoutlet header in fluid communication with the outlet end of each of saidcoolant tubes, conduit means connecting said outlet header with saidburner nozzles of said engine, aplurality of coolant tubes in saidcondenser portion of said heat exchanger, a coolant inlet headerpositioned in the lower portion of said condenser portion of said heatexchanger and in fluid communication with the inlet end of each of saidcondenser coolant tubes, conduit means connecting said inlet header ofsaid condenser portion and said inlet header of said air desuperheaterportion of said heat exchanger to said outlet of said hydrogen fuelstorage tank, a valve with said last-named conduit means having pressuresensing control means therewith and with said condenser portion and saidair desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger to operate said valveand maintain a pressure drop between said air desuperheater portion ofsaid heat exchangerand said condenser portion thereof, conduit meansconnecting said outlet header of said condenser portion to said inletheader of said air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger, checkvalve means with said lastnamed conduit means operable to permit coolantflow from said condenser portion to said air desuperheater portion ofsaid heat exchanger, hydrogen fuel coolant recirculating conduit meansconnected in one end portion to said last-named conduit means betweensaid check valve means therein and said outlet header of said condenserportion of said heat exchanger, valve means having the inlet thereofconnected to the other end portion of said hydrogen fuel coolantrecirculating conduit means, coolant booster pump means having the inletthereof connected to said last-named valve means to receive liquidhydrogen fuel from said liquid hydrogenfuel coolant recirculatingconduit means and having the outlet thereof connected to the inlet ofsaid hydrogen fuel storage tank to provide hydrogen fuel thereto underpressure, hydrogen fuel dump line conduit means connected in one endportion to said lastnamed valve means and connected in the other endtures in said air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger, othervalve means with said conduit means connecting said inlet header of saidair desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger to said outlet of saidhydrogen fuel storage tank and having control means therewith operableto open said valve means on high temperatures in said air desuperheaterportion of said heat exchanger, an air condensate well in said condenserportion of said heat exchanger, conduit means connected to said aircondensate well and to said burner nozzles of said rocket engine, pumpmeans in said last-named conduit means, valve means in said last-namedconduit means, between said pump means and said burner nozzles andhaving control means therewith to regulate the passage of liquid airtherethrough, other conduit means connected in one end portion to saidlast-named conduit means between said pump means and said valve meansand connectedin the other end portion to the inlet of said liquid airstorage tank, an air rectifying column connected to said liquid airstorage tank and opening thereinto, conduit means connected to saidinlet of said liquid air storage tank and to said air rectifying columnto provide liquid air thereto, pump means in said last-named conduitmeans, means with the lower portion of said air rectifying column toprovide heat thereto to vaporize the liquid air supplied thereto, meanswith the upper portion of said air rectifying column to cool same andliquefy a portion of the vaporized air therein and return same to saidliquid air storage tank, conduit means with said air rectifying columnoperable to receive and discharge to the atmosphere gases from said airrectifying column, said rocket being constructed and adapted to beinitially fueled with liquid hydrogen in said liquid hy drogen fuelstorage tank with said hydrogen being supplied through said coolanttubes to said condenser portion and said air desuperheater portion ofsaid heat exchanger to condense air received by said heat exchanger andsupply same to said liquid air storage tank and to said burner nozzlesin combination with said liquid hydrogen for combustion therein to drivesaid rocket.

4. Rocket means comprising, in combination, a housing, engine meansmounted in said housing and having an exhaust portion opening to theatmosphere at one end portion of said housing to discharge gasestherefrom to drive said rocket means, liquid fuel storage tank meanswithin said housing to receive and store a liquid fuel at relatively lowtemperatures, oxidizer storage tank means within said housing operableto receive and store a liquid oxidizer for said rocket engine means,heat exchanger means having an air inlet diffuser portion positioned toreceive air from the atmosphere during flight of said rocket means, saidair inlet diffuser having a relatively narrow neck portion, said heatexchanger having an air desuperheater portion with the inlet thereof atsaid neck of said air inlet diffuser portion, said heat exchanger havinga condenser portion which is enlarged relative to said air desuperheaterportion and positioned to receive air from said desuperheater portion,tube means within said condenser portion and said air desuperheaterportion of said heat exchanger to receive and pass therethrough a fluid,conduit means operatively connecting said fuel storage tank means withthe inlet and outlet of said tube means in said condenser portion andsaid air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger to circulate fuelthereto and return same to said fuel storage tank means, conduit meansoperatively connected to said engine means and said fuel storage tankmeans to transfer fuel therefrom to said rocket engine for combustiontherein, an air condensate well with said condenser portion of said heatexchanger to collect air condensed therein, conduit means connectingsaid air condensate well with said liquid oxidizer storage tank meansand with said engine means, said rocket means being constructed andadapted to receive air from the atmosphere and condense same duringoperation and to provide said liquid air and said fuel to said rocketengine means for combustion therein to drive said rocket means.

5. Heat exchanger means for a rocket or the like having a housing withan engine mounted therein and said engine having a combustion chamberand an exhaust portion opening to one end portion of said rocket, anopen inlet end at the other end portion of said housing, and hydrogenfuel storage tank means within said housing to receive and store liquidhydrogen, said heat exchanger comprising, in combination, an air inletdiffuser positioned at said other end portion of said housing to receiveair from the atmosphere therein, said air inlet diffuser beingfrusto-conical in shape and having the relatively large end portionthereof positioned at said other end portion of said housing, an airdesuperheater positioned at the relatively small end portion of said airinlet diffuser to receive air from said air inlet diffuser, said airdesuperheater being elongated and having a throat at the end portionthereof opposite from said air inlet diffuser, a condenser positioned toreceive air from said throat of said air desuperheater, a plurality ofpasses of coolant tubes in said desuperheater, a coolant inlet header influid communication with the inlet end of each of said coolant tubes, anoutlet header in fluid communication with the outlet end of each of saidcoolant tubes, a plurality of passes of coolant tubes in said condenserof said heat exchanger, a coolant inlet header positioned at the lowerportion of said condenser and in fluid communication with the inlet endof each of said condenser coolant tubes, a

coolant outlet header positioned at the upper portion to said condenserand in fluid communication with the outlet end of each of said condensercoolant tubes, said inlet header of said air desuperheater and saidinlet header of said condenser being operatively connectable to saidhydrogen fuel storage tank to receive hydrogen fuel therefrom, saidoutlet header of said air desuperheater and said outlet header of saidcondenser being operatively connectable to said rocket engine, a conduitconnecting said outlet header of said condenser to said inlet header ofsaid air desuperheater, check valve means in said last-named conduitpermitting fluid flow from said condenser to said air desuperheateronly, said heat exchanger being constructed and adapted to in operationreceive air from the atmosphere in said air diffuser and to condensesame to be provided to said engine for combustion therein with saidhydrogen fuel.

6. A rocket comprising, in combination, a housing having a generallycylindrical center portion joined at the ends to an open exhaust endportion and an open inlet end portion, a plurality of fins secured tosaid exhaust end portion of said housing tapering toward theintermediate portion of said housing with the upper end portion of saidfins being in streamlined engagement with said housing, a rocket enginehaving a combustion chamber with burner nozzles and an enlargedfrustoconical exhaust portion having the relatively small end portionthereof in communication with said combustion chamber to receive gasestherefrom and having the relatively large end portion thereof opening tothe atmosphere at said exhaust end portion of said housing, a liquidhydrogen fuel storage tank positioned within said housing and having aninlet and an outlet, a liquid air storage tank positioned within saidhousing, a liquid hydrogen fuel surge tank positioned within saidhousing and having an inlet and an outlet, a heat exchanger positionedwithin said housing and having a hollow air inlet diffuser portion atone end portion thereof opening into a centrally located airdesuperheater portion having a throat opening into an enlarged aircondenser portion, means positioned in said air desuperheater portion ofsaid heat exchanger to remove moisture from air passing therethrough,said air inlet diffuser portion of said heat exchanger beingfrusto-conical in shape and having the relatively large end portionthereof positioned at said open inlet end portion of said housing toreceive air therein, a plurality of passes of coolant tubes in said airdesuperheater portion of said heat exchanger, a coolant inlet header influid communication with the inlet end of each of the coolant tubes, acoolant dump conduit connecting said outlet header to said burnernozzles of said rocket engine, a plurality of coolant tubes in saidcondenser portion of said heat exchanger, a coolant inlet headerpositioned at the lower end portion of said condenser portion of saidheat exchanger and in fluid communication with the inlet end of each ofsaid condenser coolant tubes, a conduit connecting said last-namedheader to said outlet of said hydrogen fuel storage tank, a hydrogenfuel pump in said last-named conduit operable to provide hydrogen fuelunder pressure from said hydrogen fuel storage tank to said inlet headerof said condenser portion of said heat exchanger, a diaphragm operatedcontrol valve in said last-named conduit between said pump and saidinlet header, a bypass conduit connecting said inlet header of said airdesuperheater portion of said heat exchanger to said last-named conduitbetween said valve and said pump, a relay with said valve, pressuresensing means with said relay and with said condenser portion and saidthroat of said desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger operable tosense relative pressures therein and operate said relay to control saidvalve and selectively provide liquid hydrogen to said condenser portionto thereby maintain a pressure drop between said throat of said airdesuperheater portion and said condenser portion of said heat exchanger,a coolant outlet header positioned at the upper portion of saidcondenser portion of said heat exchanger and in fluid communication withthe outlet end of each of said coolant tubes therein, a conduitconnecting said outlet header of said condenser portion with said bypassconduit to said inlet header to said air desuperheater portion of saidheat exchanger, a check valve in said last-named conduit operable topermit coolant flow from said condenser portion to said airdesuperheater portion of said heat exchanger only, a three-way valvehaving one outlet thereof operatively connected to said hydrogen fueldump conduit, a conduit connecting another outlet of said three-wayvalve to said inlet of said hydrogen fuel surge tank, another conduithaving one end portion secured to and in fluid communication with saidconduit connecting said outlet header of said condenser portion withsaid bypass conduit and connected thereto between said check valve andsaid outlet header of said condenser portion of said heat exchanger andhaving the other end portion connected to the other end portion of saidthreeway valve, a diaphragm operated control valve in said last-namedconduit, a relay with said last-named control valve, temperature sensingmeans with said lastnamed relay and with said throat of saiddesuperheater portion of said heat exchanger operable in response to thetemperature in said throat of said desuperheater of said heat exchangerto operate said relay to open said last-named control valve at arelatively low tempera ture in said throat and close said last-namedvalve at a relatively high temperature in said throat, a diaphragmcontrol valve in said bypass conduit, said last-named control valvebeing operatively connected to said lastnamed relay to be opened atrelatively, high temperatures in said throat and closed at relativelylow temperatures in said throat of said desuperheater portion of saidheat exchanger, a conduit connecting said outlet of said hydrogen fuelsurge tank to said fuel pump, a control valve in said last-namedconduit, a relay with said last-named control valve having pressuresensing means therewith locatedwithin said condenser portion of saidheat exchanger and operable to open said valve at high condenserpressures and close said valve at low condenser pressures, relay meanswith said three-way valve having pressure sensing means therewithoperable to open said three-way valve to provide hydrogen fuel to saidsurge tank on low condenser pressures and operable to provide hydrogenfuel to said fuel dump line on high condenser pressures, a control valvein said conduit from said hydrogen fuel storage tank to said inletheader of said condenser portion of said air desuperheater and locatedbetween said hydrogen fuel storage tank and said pump, said last-namedcontrol valve being operated by said relay operating said control valvebetween said surge tank and said fuel pump and operable to close saidlast-named control valve on high condenser pressures and open said valveon low con denser pressures, an air conensate well in said condenserportion of said heat exchanger opposite from said throat of said airdesuperheater portion thereof, a conduit connected in one end portion tothe outlet of said air condensate well and connected in the other endportion to said burner nozzles of said rocket engine, a bypass conduitconnected in one end portion to an intermediate portion of saidlast-named conduit and connected in the other end portion to said inletof said liquid air storage tank, a liquid air pump in said conduitconnected to said air condensate well with said pump being positionedbetween said air condensate well and said last-named bypass conduit toprovide liquid air to said burner nozzles and to said liquid air storagetank, valve means in said conduit connecting said air conduit and saidburner nozzles positioned between said lastnamed bypass conduit and saidburner nozzles with said valve being controlled by the passage of fluidthrough said dump conduit to said burner nozzles, an air rectifyingcolumn on said liquid air storage tank opening into said liquid airstorage tank and having a plurality of nozzles therein, a conduitconnected in one end portion to said inlet of said liquid air storagetankand connected in the other end portion to said nozzles in said airrectifying column, an air rectifying column circulating pump in saidlast-named conduit to provide liquid air from said liquid air storagetank to said nozzles in said air rectifying column, a dump conduitextending from said air inlet diffuser portion of said heat exchanger tosaid exhaust portion of said rocket engine, a conduit connected in itsend portions to said lastnamed dump conduit and having the intermediateportion thereof surrounding the lower portion of said air rectifyingcolumn and operable to pass air from the atmosphere therethrough to heatthe lower portion of said air rectifying column and heat the liquid airdischarged from said nozzles therein to thereby vaporize the liquid air,a valve in said last-named conduit, valve control means with saidlast-named valve operable to open and close same in response to thetemperature in said air rectifying column, a conduit connected in oneend portion to said conduit connected to said hydrogen fuel storage tankand to said inlet header of said condenser portion of said heatexchanger, the other end portion of said last-named conduit beingconnected to said outlet header of said condenser portion of said heatexchanger with the intermediate portion of said last-named conduit beingpositioned around the upper portion of said air rectifying column tocool same and condense a portion of the vaporized air therein containingoxygen and return same to said liquid air storage tank, a valve in saidlast-named conduit having valve control means therewith operable to openand close said valve in response to the temperature within said column,an exhaust conduit secured in one end portion to the upper portion ofsaid air rectifying tower and secured in the other end portion to saidlast-named dump conduit to discharge non-combustible gases from said airrectifying column, a relief valve in said lastnamedconduit, a conduitsecured in one end portion to said last-named dump conduit and connectedin the other end portion to the upper portion of said con denser portionof said heat exchanger and operable to receive and discharge to saidlast-named dump conduit incondensable gases received by said condenserportion, and a gas pump in said last-named conduit, said rocket beingconstructed and adapted to be initially fueled with liquid hydrogen insaid hydrogen fuel storage tank and with said hydrogen being circulatedthrough said heat exchanger with air from the atmosphere being receivedby said heat exchanger through said inlet diffuser portion and condensedin said condenser portion thereof and subsequently supplied to saidliquid air storage tank and said burner nozzles of said engine by saidliquid air pump with a portion of the liquid hydrogen fuel being passedthrough said heat exchanger being provided to said surge tank during lowcondenser pressure and subsequently recirculated through said condenserportion and said airdesuperheater portion for subsequent cooling of airtherein, and said hydrogen fuel being burned in said engine to propelsaid vehicle.

7. The rocket as defined in claim 6 wherein said means positioned insaid air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger to remove moisturefrom air passing therethrough includes a plurality of coolant tubespositioned at the inlet end of said air desuperheater and extendingthereacross, an inlet header in fluid communication with the inlet endof each of said last-named coolant tubes, a conduit connected in its endportions to said last-named inlet header and operatively connected tosaid outlet of said hydrogen fuel storage tank, an outlet header influid communication with the outlet end of each of said last-namedcoolant tubes, a conduit connecting said last-named outlet header tosaid conduit connecting said outlet header of said air desuperheaterportion of said heat exchanger to said burner nozzles of said engine, aplurality of fins mounted on said last-named coolant tubes andpositioned in spaced relation, said fins on said last-named coolanttubes being cooled by the passage of hydrogen fuel therethrough tofreeze thereon moisture in the atmosphere received therein.

8. A rocket comprising, in combination, a housing having an open exhaustend portion and an open inlet end portion, fin means secured to saidexhaust end portion of said housing and tapering toward the intermediateportion of said housing with the upper end portion of said fin meansbeing in streamlined engagement with said housing, a rocket enginehaving a combustion chamber with burner nozzles and an exhaust portionopening to said open exhaust end portion of said housing, a liquidhydrogen fuel storage tank positioned within said housing and having aninlet and an outlet, a liquid air storage tank positioned within saidhousing, a liquid hydrogen fuel surge tank positioned within saidhousing and having an inlet and an outlet, a heat exchanger mountedwithin said housing and having an air inlet diffuser portion at one endportion thereof opening into an air desuperheater portion having athroat opening into an enlarged air condenser portion, means positionedin said air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger to removemoisture from air passing there- -through, coolant tubes positioned insaid air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger, a coolant inletheader in fluid communication with the inlet end of each of said coolanttubes, an outlet header positioned in fluid communication with theoutlet end of each of coolant tubes, a coolant dump conduit connectingsaid outlet header of said desuperheater portion to said burner nozzlesof said rocket engine, a plurality of coolant tubes in said condenserportion of said heat exchanger, a coolant inlet header positioned at thelower end portion of said condenser portion of said heat exchanger andin fluid communication with the inlet end of each of said coolant tubes,a conduit connecting said last-named header to said outlet of saidhydrogen fuel storage tank, pump means in said last-named conduitoperable to provide hydrogen fuel under pressure to said inlet header ofsaid condenser portion of said heat exchanger, valve means positioned insaid last-named conduit between said pump means and said inlet header ofsaid condenser portion of said heat exchanger, control means with saidvalve means having pressure sensing means therewith located in said airdesuperheater portion and said condenser portion of said heat exchangerand being operable to open and close said valve means to maintain apressure drop between said throat of said air desuperheater portion andsaid condenser portion of said heat exchanger, bypass conduit meansconnecting said inlet header of said air desuperheater portion of saidheat exchanger to said last-named conduit between said valve means andsaid pump means, a coolant outlet header positioned at the upper portionof said condenser portion of said heat exchanger and in fluidcommunication with the outlet end of each of said coolant tubes therein,conduit means connecting said outlet header of said condenser portionwith said inlet header of said air desuperheater portion of said heatexchanger, other conduit means connecting said outlet header of saidcondenser portion of said heat exchanger to said dump conduit to providehydrogen fuel thereto, valve means with said last-named conduit meansand with said bypass conduit means having control means therewithoperable to sense the temperature in said throat of said airdesuperheater portion of said heat exchanger and open and close saidvalve means to regulate flow of said hydrogen fuel through said bypassconduit to said air desuperheater portion and from said outlet header ofsaid condenser portion of said heat exchanger, conduit means connectingsaid hydrogen fuel surge tank and said hydrogen fuel storage tank tosaid last named conduit means between said valve therein and said dumpconduit, conduit means connecting the outlet of said hydrogen fuel surgetank to said fuel pump and having control means therewith operable tosense pressures in said condenser portion of said heat exchanger topermit passage of fluid from said surge tank to said pump at highcondenser pressures and prevent passage thereto at low condenserpressures in said condenser portion, an air condensate well in saidcondenser portion of said heat exchanger, conduit means connecting saidair condensate well to said burner nozzles of said rocket engine and tosaid liquid air storage tank to transfer liquid air condensed in saidcondenser portion of said heat exchanger to said liquid air storage tankand to said burner nozzles, means with said liquid air storage tankoperable to separate the liquid air into a nitrogen containing portionand an oxygen portion and discharge the nitrogen containing portion,said rocket being constructed and adapted to be initially fueled withliquid hydrogen in said hydrogen fuel storage tank and with a liquidoxidizer in said liquid air storage tank with said hydrogen and saidoxidizer being supplied to said rocket engine during lift-off of saidrocket with air from the atmosphere being received and condensed in saidheat exchanger during flight of said rocket means and provided to saidliquid air storage tank and to said rocket engine for oxidation of saidliquid hydrogen during combustion therein.

9. The rocket as defined in claim 8 wherein said means positioned insaid air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger to remove moisturefrom air passing therethrough includes a pluralityof coolant tubespositioned at the inlet end of said air desuperheater and extendingthereacross and being operatively connected in the inlet end thereof tosaid hydrogen fuel storage tank to receive hydrogen fuel therefrom,means operatively connecting the outlet end of said last-named coolanttubes to said rocket engine, and fin means mounted on said last-namedcoolant tubes, said fin means being cooled by passage of hydrogenthrough said last-named tubes to freeze thereonmoisture in theatmosphere passing therethrough.

10. Rocket means comprising, in combination, a housing having an openexhaust end portion and an open inlet end portion, stabilizing meanssecured to said housing, rocket engine means positioned within saidhousinghaving a combustion chamber therein and an exhaust portioncommunicating with the atmosphere at said open exhaust end portion ofsaid housing, liquid hydrogen fuel storage means within said housinghaving an inlet and an outlet, liquid air storage means positionedwithin said housing, liquid hydrogen fuel surge tank means positionedwithin said housing and having an inlet and an outlet, heat exchangermeans mounted within said housing and having an air inlet diffuserportion at one end portion thereof opening into an air desuperheaterportion having a throat opening into an enlarged air condenser portion,said air inlet diffuser portion of said heat exchanger being positionedto receive air from the atmosphere therein durl ing flight of saidrocket means through the atmosphere,

coolant tube means positioned in said condenser portion and said airdesuperheater portion of said heat exchanger, conduit means operativelyconnected to the inlet end of said coolant tube means and to saidhydrogen fuel storage means and said hydrogen fuel surge tank means toreceive hydrogen fuel therefrom for passage through said tube means,conduit means operatively connected to the outlet end of said coolanttube means and tosaid hydrogen fuel storage means and said hydrogen fuelsurge tank means and to said rocket engine means to pass fuel thereto,control means with said conduit means to regulate the passage ofhydrogen fuel therethrough, a liquid air condensate well in saidcondenser portion of said heat exchanger to collect liquid air condensedtherein, conduit means connecting said liquid air condensate well withsaid liquid air storage means and said rocket engine means, and meanswith said liquid air storage means operable to receive liquid air andremove a portion of the nitrogen therefrom, said rocket means beingfueled with liquid hydrogen fuel in said hydrogen fuel storage meanswith said fuel being provided to said heat exchanger and said rocketengine means with said heat exchanger receiving and condensing thereinair from the atmosphere and providing liquid air therefrom to saidliquid air storage means and to said rocket engine means for oxidationof said hydrogen fuel during combustion thereof in said combustionchamber of said engine means to drive said rocket means.

11. A method of propelling a rocket or the like comprising the steps of,funneling air from the atmosphere through an air inlet of said rockethaving an inlet area of 30 to 90 square feet then into a passageway andacross a plurality of plates in said passageway, cooling the plates byplacing liquid hydrogen fuel at approximately 45 R in heat conductingrelation with the plates and cooling same and freezing and retainingthereon water and carbon dioxide from the atmospheric air, passing theresulting dried atmospheric air across a plurality of rows of fins inthe passageway at a velocity of approximately Mach one, cooling the finsby placing liquid hydrogen fuel at approximately 45 R in heat conductingrelation therewith and cooling the atmospheric air passing thereacrosssuch leaving the throat of the passageway at a temperature ofapproximately 200 R, expanding the air leaving the throat of thepassageway into a condenser at a pressure of from 10 to 3,000 pounds persquare foot thereby further cooling same and simultaneously passing theair over a plurality of tubes containing liquid hydrogen fuel atapproximately 45 R cooling the air to a temperature below R andcondensing the condensable portions of the air, exhausting to theatmosphere incondensable neon and helium, collecting the resultingliquid air and pumping same to rocket engine means and to storage meansfloating on the line to the engine means, pumping a portion of theliquid air from said storage means to an air rectifying column andspraying same thereinto while simultaneously heating the lower portionof said column and cooling the upper portion of said column andfractionating the liquid air into a gaseous fraction containing nitrogenand a liquid fraction containing oxygen, exhausting to the atmospherethe resulting gaseous fraction containing nitrogen and returning theliquid fraction containing oxygen to said storage means, providingliquid hydrogen fuel previously used for cooling the air to the enginemeans and mixing same therein with the liquid air supplied thereto andburning the resultant mixture in a combustion zone, and exhausting theresulting gases to the atmosphere in one direction to thereby exert anequal force on the rocket or the like in the opposite direction.

12. The method as recited in claim 11 additionally comprising the stepof recirculating a portion of the liquid hydrogen fuel used for coolingin the condenser through the condenser and the passageway for additionalcooling of air passing therethrough.

13. A method of propelling a rocket or the like comprising, the stepsof, funneling air from the atmosphere into a restricted passageway toincrease the velocity thereof, cooling plates positioned across theinlet of the passageway and freezing thereon water and carbon dioxidefrom the air as it enters the passageway, passing the resulting driedair through the passageway at a velocity of approximately Mach one andsimultaneously providing liquid hydrogen fuel at approximately 45 R tothe passageway in heat conducting relation with air passing therethroughand cooling the air to its satura tion temperature with the air leavingthe passageway in a gaseous state, passing the air into a condenser asit leaves the passageway, providing additional liquid hydrogen fuel atapproximately 45 R to said condenser in heat conducting relation withthe air in the con denser and cooling of the air therein and condensingthe condensable portions of the air, removing the incondensable portionsof the air from the condenser and discarding same, collecting theresulting liquid air and moving same to liquid air storage means,removing a portion of the liquid air from the storage means andfractionating the liquid air into a gaseous fraction containing nitrogenand a liquid fraction containing oxy-

1. A rocket comprising, in combination, a housing having a generallycylindrical center portion joined at the ends to an open exhaust endportion and an open inlet end portion, a plurality of fins secured tosaid exhaust end portion of said housing tapering toward theintermediate portion of said housing with the inner end portion of saidfins being in streamlined engagement with said housing, a rocket enginehaving a combustion chamber with burner nozzles and an enlargedfrusto-conical exhaust portion having the relatively small end portionthereof in communication with said chamber to receive gases therefromand having the relatively large end portion thereof opening to theatmosphere at said exhaust end portion of said housing, a liquidhydrogen fuel storage tank positioned within said housing and having aninlet and an outlet, a liquid air storage tank positioned within saidhousing, a heat exchanger positioned within said housing and having ahollow air inlet diffuser portion at one end portion thereof openinginto a centrally located elongated air desuperheater portion having athroat opening into an enlarged air condenser portion, means positionedat the inlet of said air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger toremove moisture from air passing therethrough, said air inlet diffuserportion of said heat exchanger being frustoconical in shape and havingthe relatively large end portion thereof positioned at said open inletportion of said housing to receive air therein, a plurality of passes ofcoolant tubes in said air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger,a plurality of spaced plates secured to said tubes with said platesbeing parallel to each other and to the axis of said air desuperheaterportion of said heat exchanger, a coolant inlet header in fluidcommunication with the inlet end of each of said coolant tubes, anoutlet header in fluid communication with the outlet end of each of saidcoolant tubes, a conduit connecting said last-named header to saidburner nozzles of said rocket engine, a plurality of coolant tubes insaid condenser portion of said heat exchanger, each having the inlet endthereof at the lower portion of said condenser portion and having theoutlet end thereof at the upper portion of said condenser portion, acoolant inlet header positioned at the lower portion of said condenserportion of said heat exchanger and in fluid communication with saidinlet end of each of said condenser coolant tubes, a conduit connectingsaid last-named header to said outlet of said hydrogen fuel storagetank, a diaphragm operated control valve in said last-named Conduit, aby-pass conduit connecting said inlet header of said air desuperheaterportion of said heat exchanger to said last-named conduit between saidvalve and said hydrogen fuel storage tank, a relay with said valve,pneumatic instrument lines with said relay and with said condenserportion and said throat of said air desuperheater portion of said heatexchanger operable to sense pressures therein and operate said relay tocontrol said valve and selectively provide liquid hydrogen to saidcondenser portion to thereby maintain a pressure drop between saidthroat of said air desuperheater portion and said condenser portion ofsaid heat exchanger, a coolant outlet header positioned at the upperportion of said condenser portion of said heat exchanger and in fluidcommunication with said outlet end of each of said condenser coolanttubes, a conduit connecting said outlet header of said condenser portionwith said bypass conduit to said inlet header of said air desuperheaterportion of said heat exchanger, a check valve in said last-named conduitoperable to permit coolant flow from said condenser portion to said airdesuperheater portion of said heat exchanger only, a three-way valvehaving one outlet thereof operatively connected to said conduitconnecting said outlet header of said air desuperheater portion of saidheat exchanger to said burner nozzles of said engine, a coolant boosterpump having the inlet thereof connected to another outlet of saidthree-way valve with the outlet of said pump being connected to saidinlet of said hydrogen fuel storage tank, another conduit having one endportion secured to and in fluid communication with said last-namedconduit between said check valve and said outlet header of saidcondenser portion and having the other end portion thereof connected tothe inlet of said three-way valve, a relay with said three-way valvehaving temperature sensing means therewith operatively connected to saidinlet and said outlet of said hydrogen fuel storage tank and operable toclose said three-way valve to the passage of hydrogen fuel therethroughto said storage tank when said fuel reaches a predetermined temperature,a diaphragm operated control valve in said last-named conduit, a relaywith said last-named control valve, a pneumatic instrument line withsaid relay and with said throat of said desuperheater portion of saidheat exchanger operable in response to the temperature in said throat ofsaid desuperheater of said heat exchanger to operate said relay to opensaid last-named control valve at a relatively low temperature in saidthroat and close said last-named valve at a relatively high temperaturein said throat, a diaphragm operated control valve in said bypassconduit, said last-named control valve being operatively connected tosaid last-named relay to be opened at relatively high temperatures insaid throat and closed at relatively low temperatures in said throat ofsaid desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger, an air condensatewell in said condenser portion of said heat exchanger opposite from saidair desuperheater portion thereof, a liquid air conduit connected in oneend portion to the outlet of said air condensate well and connected inthe other end portion to said burner nozzles of said rocket engine, abypass conduit connected in one end portion to an intermediate portionof said liquid air conduit and connected in the other end portion to theinlet of said liquid air storage tank, a liquid air pump in said liquidair conduit positioned between said air condensate well and saidlast-named bypass conduit to provide liquid air to said burner nozzlesand to said liquid air storage tank, valve means in said liquid airconduit between said last-named bypass conduit and said burner nozzleswith said valve means being controlled by the pressure of fluid passingthrough said conduit connected to said outlet header of said airdesuperheater portion of said heat exchanger and said burner nozzles, aliquid air rectifying column on said liquid air storage tank openinginto said liquid air storage tank and having a plurality of nozzlestherein, a conduit connected in one end portion to said inlet of saidliquid air storage tank and connected in the other end portion to saidnozzles in said air rectifying column, an air rectifying columncirculating pump in said last-named conduit to provide liquid air fromsaid liquid air storage tank to said nozzle in said air rectifyingcolumn, a dump conduit extending from said air inlet diffuser portion ofsaid heat exchanger to said exhaust portion of said rocket engine, aconduit connected in its end portions to said dump conduit and havingthe intermediate portion thereof surrounding the lower portion of saidair rectifying column and operable to pass air from the atmospheretherethrough to provide heat to said air rectifying column and heat theliquid air therein and vaporize same, a valve in said last-namedconduit, valve control means with said last-named valve operable to openand close same in response to the temperature in said air rectifyingcolumn, a conduit connected in one end portion to said conduit connectedto said hydrogen fuel storage tank and to said inlet header of saidcondenser portion of said heat exchanger, the other end portion ofsaid
 1. A rocket comprising, in combination, a housing having agenerally cylindrical center portion joined at the ends to an openexhaust end portion and an open inlet end portion, a plurality of finssecured to said exhaust end portion of said housing tapering toward theintermediate portion of said housing with the inner end portion of saidfins being in streamlined engagement with said housing, a rocket enginehaving a combustion chamber with burner nozzles and an enlargedfrusto-conical exhaust portion having the relatively small end portionthereof in communication with said chamber to receive gases therefromand having the relatively large end portion thereof opening to theatmosphere at said exhaust end portion of said housing, a liquidhydrogen fuel storage tank positioned within said housing and having aninlet and an outlet, a liquid air storage tank positioned within saidhousing, a heat exchanger positioned within said housing and having ahollow air inlet diffuser portion at one end portion thereof openinginto a centrally located elongated air desuperheater portion having athroat opening into an enlarged air condenser portion, means positionedat the inlet of said air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger toremove moisture from air passing therethrough, said air inlet diffuserportion of said heat exchanger being frustoconical in shape and havingthe relatively large end portion thereof positioned at said open inletportion of said housing to receive air therein, a plurality of passes ofcoolant tubes in said air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger,a plurality of spaced plates secured to said tubes with said platesbeing parallel to each other and to the axis of said air desuperheaterportion of said heat exchanger, a coolant inlet header in fluidcommunication with the inlet end of each of said coolant tubes, anoutlet header in fluid communication with the outlet end of each of saidcoolant tubes, a conduit connecting said last-named header to saidburner nozzles of said rocket engine, a plurality of coolant tubes insaid condenser portion of said heat exchanger, each having the inlet endthereof at the lower portion of said condenser portion and having theoutlet end thereof at the upper portion of said condenser portion, acoolant inlet header positioned at the lower portion of said condenserportion of said heat exchanger and in fluid communication with saidinlet end of each of said condenser coolant tubes, a conduit connectingsaid last-named header to said outlet of said hydrogen fuel storagetank, a diaphragm operated control valve in said last-named Conduit, aby-pass conduit connecting said inlet header of said air desuperheaterportion of said heat exchanger to said last-named conduit between saidvalve and said hydrogen fuel storage tank, a relay with said valve,pneumatic instrument lines with said relay and with said condenserportion and said throat of said air desuperheater portion of said heatexchanger operable to sense pressures therein and operate said relay tocontrol said valve and selectively provide liquid hydrogen to saidcondenser portion to thereby maintain a pressure drop between saidthroat of said air desuperheater portion and said condenser portion ofsaid heat exchanger, a coolant outlet header positioned at the upperportion of said condenser portion of said heat exchanger and in fluidcommunication with said outlet end of each of said condenser coolanttubes, a conduit connecting said outlet header of said condenser portionwith said bypass conduit to said inlet header of said air desuperheaterportion of said heat exchanger, a check valve in said last-named conduitoperable to permit coolant flow from said condenser portion to said airdesuperheater portion of said heat exchanger only, a three-way valvehaving one outlet thereof operatively connected to said conduitconnecting said outlet header of said air desuperheater portion of saidheat exchanger to said burner nozzles of said engine, a coolant boosterpump having the inlet thereof connected to another outlet of saidthree-way valve with the outlet of said pump being connected to saidinlet of said hydrogen fuel storage tank, another conduit having one endportion secured to and in fluid communication with said last-namedconduit between said check valve and said outlet header of saidcondenser portion and having the other end portion thereof connected tothe inlet of said three-way valve, a relay with said three-way valvehaving temperature sensing means therewith operatively connected to saidinlet and said outlet of said hydrogen fuel storage tank and operable toclose said three-way valve to the passage of hydrogen fuel therethroughto said storage tank when said fuel reaches a predetermined temperature,a diaphragm operated control valve in said last-named conduit, a relaywith said last-named control valve, a pneumatic instrument line withsaid relay and with said throat of said desuperheater portion of saidheat exchanger operable in response to the temperature in said throat ofsaid desuperheater of said heat exchanger to operate said relay to opensaid last-named control valve at a relatively low temperature in saidthroat and close said last-named valve at a relatively high temperaturein said throat, a diaphragm operated control valve in said bypassconduit, said last-named control valve being operatively connected tosaid last-named relay to be opened at relatively high temperatures insaid throat and closed at relatively low temperatures in said throat ofsaid desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger, an air condensatewell in said condenser portion of said heat exchanger opposite from saidair desuperheater portion thereof, a liquid air conduit connected in oneend portion to the outlet of said air condensate well and connected inthe other end portion to said burner nozzles of said rocket engine, abypass conduit connected in one end portion to an intermediate portionof said liquid air conduit and connected in the other end portion to theinlet of said liquid air storage tank, a liquid air pump in said liquidair conduit positioned between said air condensate well and saidlast-named bypass conduit to provide liquid air to said burner nozzlesand to said liquid air storage tank, valve means in said liquid airconduit between said last-named bypass conduit and said burner nozzleswith said valve means being controlled by the pressure of fluid passingthrough said conduit connected to said outlet header of said airdesuperheater portion of said heat exchanger and said burner nozzles, aliquid air rectifying column on said liquid air storage tank openinginto said liquid air storage tank and having a plurality of nozzlestherein, a conduit connected in one end portion to said inlet of saidliquid air storage tank and connected in the other end portion to saidnozzles in said air rectifying column, an air rectifying columncirculating pump in said last-named conduit to provide liquid air fromsaid liquid air storage tank to said nozzle in said air rectifyingcolumn, a dump conduit extending from said air inlet diffuser portion ofsaid heat exchanger to said exhaust portion of said rocket engine, aconduit connected in its end portions to said dump conduit and havingthe intermediate portion thereof surrounding the lower portion of saidair rectifying column and operable to pass air from the atmospheretherethrough to provide heat to said air rectifying column and heat theliquid air therein and vaporize same, a valve in said last-namedconduit, valve control means with said last-named valve operable to openand close same in response to the temperature in said air rectifyingcolumn, a conduit connected in one end portion to said conduit connectedto said hydrogen fuel storage tank and to said inlet header of saidcondenser portion of said heat exchanger, the other end portion of said2. The rocket as defined in claim 1 wherein said means to removemoisture from air includes a plurality of coolant tubes positioned atthe inlet end of said air desuperheater and extending thereacross, aninlet header in fluid communication with the inlet end of each of saidlast-named coolant tubes, a conduit connected in its end portions tosaid last-named header and to said conduit connected to said outlet ofsaid hydrogen fuel storage tank, an outlet header in fluid communicationwith the outlet end of said last-named coolant tubes, a conduitconnecting said last-named header to said conduit connecting said outletheader of said air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger to saidburner nozzles of said engine, a plurality of fins mounted on saidlast-named coolant tubes in spaced relation, said fins on saidlast-named coolant tubes being cooled by the passage of hydrogen fueltherethrough to freeze thereon moisture in atmospheric air received fromsaid air inlet diffuser.
 3. A rocket comprising, in combination, ahousing having an open exhaust end portion and an open inlet endportion, fIns secured to the outer surface of said housing at saidexhaust end portion thereof and tapering toward the intermediate portionthereof with the upper end portion of said fins being in streamlinedengagement with said housing, a rocket engine mounted in said housinghaving a combustion chamber with burner nozzles therein and an enlargedfrusto-conical exhaust portion having one end portion thereof incommunication with said chamber to receive exhaust gases therefrom andhaving the other end portion thereof opening to the atmosphere at saidexhaust end portion of said housing, a liquid hydrogen fuel storage tankmounted within said housing and having an inlet and an outlet, a liquidair storage tank positioned within said housing, a heat exchangerpositioned within said housing and having a hollow air inlet diffuserportion in one end portion thereof positioned at said inlet end portionof said housing to receive air from the atmosphere, said heat exchangerhaving a centrally located air desuperheater portion in fluidcommunication with said air inlet diffuser portion and having a throatopening into an enlarged air condenser portion, means with the inlet ofsaid air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger to remove moisturefrom air passing therethrough, a plurality of coolant tubes passingthrough said air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger, an inletheader in fluid communication with the inlet end of each of said coolanttubes, an outlet header in fluid communication with the outlet end ofeach of said coolant tubes, conduit means connecting said outlet headerwith said burner nozzles of said engine, a plurality of coolant tubes insaid condenser portion of said heat exchanger, a coolant inlet headerpositioned in the lower portion of said condenser portion of said heatexchanger and in fluid communication with the inlet end of each of saidcondenser coolant tubes, conduit means connecting said inlet header ofsaid condenser portion and said inlet header of said air desuperheaterportion of said heat exchanger to said outlet of said hydrogen fuelstorage tank, a valve with said last-named conduit means having pressuresensing control means therewith and with said condenser portion and saidair desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger to operate said valveand maintain a pressure drop between said air desuperheater portion ofsaid heat exchanger and said condenser portion thereof, conduit meansconnecting said outlet header of said condenser portion to said inletheader of said air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger, checkvalve means with said last-named conduit means operable to permitcoolant flow from said condenser portion to said air desuperheaterportion of said heat exchanger, hydrogen fuel coolant recirculatingconduit means connected in one end portion to said last-named conduitmeans between said check valve means therein and said outlet header ofsaid condenser portion of said heat exchanger, valve means having theinlet thereof connected to the other end portion of said hydrogen fuelcoolant recirculating conduit means, coolant booster pump means havingthe inlet thereof connected to said last-named valve means to receiveliquid hydrogen fuel from said liquid hydrogen fuel coolantrecirculating conduit means and having the outlet thereof connected tothe inlet of said hydrogen fuel storage tank to provide hydrogen fuelthereto under pressure, hydrogen fuel dump line conduit means connectedin one end portion to said last-named valve means and connected in theother end portion to said conduit means connecting said outlet header ofsaid air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger to said burnernozzles of said rocket engine, valve means in said liquid hydrogen fuelcoolant recirculating conduit means having control means therewithoperable to open said valve at relatively low temperatures in said airdesuperheater portion of said heat exchanger, other valve means withsaid conduit means connecting said inlet header of said airdesupeRheater portion of said heat exchanger to said outlet of saidhydrogen fuel storage tank and having control means therewith operableto open said valve means on high temperatures in said air desuperheaterportion of said heat exchanger, an air condensate well in said condenserportion of said heat exchanger, conduit means connected to said aircondensate well and to said burner nozzles of said rocket engine, pumpmeans in said last-named conduit means, valve means in said last-namedconduit means, between said pump means and said burner nozzles andhaving control means therewith to regulate the passage of liquid airtherethrough, other conduit means connected in one end portion to saidlast-named conduit means between said pump means and said valve meansand connected in the other end portion to the inlet of said liquid airstorage tank, an air rectifying column connected to said liquid airstorage tank and opening thereinto, conduit means connected to saidinlet of said liquid air storage tank and to said air rectifying columnto provide liquid air thereto, pump means in said last-named conduitmeans, means with the lower portion of said air rectifying column toprovide heat thereto to vaporize the liquid air supplied thereto, meanswith the upper portion of said air rectifying column to cool same andliquefy a portion of the vaporized air therein and return same to saidliquid air storage tank, conduit means with said air rectifying columnoperable to receive and discharge to the atmosphere gases from said airrectifying column, said rocket being constructed and adapted to beinitially fueled with liquid hydrogen in said liquid hydrogen fuelstorage tank with said hydrogen being supplied through said coolanttubes to said condenser portion and said air desuperheater portion ofsaid heat exchanger to condense air received by said heat exchanger andsupply same to said liquid air storage tank and to said burner nozzlesin combination with said liquid hydrogen for combustion therein to drivesaid rocket.
 4. Rocket means comprising, in combination, a housing,engine means mounted in said housing and having an exhaust portionopening to the atmosphere at one end portion of said housing todischarge gases therefrom to drive said rocket means, liquid fuelstorage tank means within said housing to receive and store a liquidfuel at relatively low temperatures, oxidizer storage tank means withinsaid housing operable to receive and store a liquid oxidizer for saidrocket engine means, heat exchanger means having an air inlet diffuserportion positioned to receive air from the atmosphere during flight ofsaid rocket means, said air inlet diffuser having a relatively narrowneck portion, said heat exchanger having an air desuperheater portionwith the inlet thereof at said neck of said air inlet diffuser portion,said heat exchanger having a condenser portion which is enlargedrelative to said air desuperheater portion and positioned to receive airfrom said desuperheater portion, tube means within said condenserportion and said air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger toreceive and pass therethrough a fluid, conduit means operativelyconnecting said fuel storage tank means with the inlet and outlet ofsaid tube means in said condenser portion and said air desuperheaterportion of said heat exchanger to circulate fuel thereto and return sameto said fuel storage tank means, conduit means operatively connected tosaid engine means and said fuel storage tank means to transfer fueltherefrom to said rocket engine for combustion therein, an aircondensate well with said condenser portion of said heat exchanger tocollect air condensed therein, conduit means connecting said aircondensate well with said liquid oxidizer storage tank means and withsaid engine means, said rocket means being constructed and adapted toreceive air from the atmosphere and condense same during operation andto provide said liquid air and said fuel to said rocket engine means forcombustion therein To drive said rocket means.
 5. Heat exchanger meansfor a rocket or the like having a housing with an engine mounted thereinand said engine having a combustion chamber and an exhaust portionopening to one end portion of said rocket, an open inlet end at theother end portion of said housing, and hydrogen fuel storage tank meanswithin said housing to receive and store liquid hydrogen, said heatexchanger comprising, in combination, an air inlet diffuser positionedat said other end portion of said housing to receive air from theatmosphere therein, said air inlet diffuser being frusto-conical inshape and having the relatively large end portion thereof positioned atsaid other end portion of said housing, an air desuperheater positionedat the relatively small end portion of said air inlet diffuser toreceive air from said air inlet diffuser, said air desuperheater beingelongated and having a throat at the end portion thereof opposite fromsaid air inlet diffuser, a condenser positioned to receive air from saidthroat of said air desuperheater, a plurality of passes of coolant tubesin said desuperheater, a coolant inlet header in fluid communicationwith the inlet end of each of said coolant tubes, an outlet header influid communication with the outlet end of each of said coolant tubes, aplurality of passes of coolant tubes in said condenser of said heatexchanger, a coolant inlet header positioned at the lower portion ofsaid condenser and in fluid communication with the inlet end of each ofsaid condenser coolant tubes, a coolant outlet header positioned at theupper portion to said condenser and in fluid communication with theoutlet end of each of said condenser coolant tubes, said inlet header ofsaid air desuperheater and said inlet header of said condenser beingoperatively connectable to said hydrogen fuel storage tank to receivehydrogen fuel therefrom, said outlet header of said air desuperheaterand said outlet header of said condenser being operatively connectableto said rocket engine, a conduit connecting said outlet header of saidcondenser to said inlet header of said air desuperheater, check valvemeans in said last-named conduit permitting fluid flow from saidcondenser to said air desuperheater only, said heat exchanger beingconstructed and adapted to in operation receive air from the atmospherein said air diffuser and to condense same to be provided to said enginefor combustion therein with said hydrogen fuel.
 6. A rocket comprising,in combination, a housing having a generally cylindrical center portionjoined at the ends to an open exhaust end portion and an open inlet endportion, a plurality of fins secured to said exhaust end portion of saidhousing tapering toward the intermediate portion of said housing withthe upper end portion of said fins being in streamlined engagement withsaid housing, a rocket engine having a combustion chamber with burnernozzles and an enlarged frusto-conical exhaust portion having therelatively small end portion thereof in communication with saidcombustion chamber to receive gases therefrom and having the relativelylarge end portion thereof opening to the atmosphere at said exhaust endportion of said housing, a liquid hydrogen fuel storage tank positionedwithin said housing and having an inlet and an outlet, a liquid airstorage tank positioned within said housing, a liquid hydrogen fuelsurge tank positioned within said housing and having an inlet and anoutlet, a heat exchanger positioned within said housing and having ahollow air inlet diffuser portion at one end portion thereof openinginto a centrally located air desuperheater portion having a throatopening into an enlarged air condenser portion, means positioned in saidair desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger to remove moisture fromair passing therethrough, said air inlet diffuser portion of said heatexchanger being frusto-conical in shape and having the relatively largeend portion thereof positioned at said open inlet end portion Of saidhousing to receive air therein, a plurality of passes of coolant tubesin said air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger, a coolantinlet header in fluid communication with the inlet end of each of thecoolant tubes, a coolant dump conduit connecting said outlet header tosaid burner nozzles of said rocket engine, a plurality of coolant tubesin said condenser portion of said heat exchanger, a coolant inlet headerpositioned at the lower end portion of said condenser portion of saidheat exchanger and in fluid communication with the inlet end of each ofsaid condenser coolant tubes, a conduit connecting said last-namedheader to said outlet of said hydrogen fuel storage tank, a hydrogenfuel pump in said last-named conduit operable to provide hydrogen fuelunder pressure from said hydrogen fuel storage tank to said inlet headerof said condenser portion of said heat exchanger, a diaphragm operatedcontrol valve in said last-named conduit between said pump and saidinlet header, a bypass conduit connecting said inlet header of said airdesuperheater portion of said heat exchanger to said last-named conduitbetween said valve and said pump, a relay with said valve, pressuresensing means with said relay and with said condenser portion and saidthroat of said desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger operable tosense relative pressures therein and operate said relay to control saidvalve and selectively provide liquid hydrogen to said condenser portionto thereby maintain a pressure drop between said throat of said airdesuperheater portion and said condenser portion of said heat exchanger,a coolant outlet header positioned at the upper portion of saidcondenser portion of said heat exchanger and in fluid communication withthe outlet end of each of said coolant tubes therein, a conduitconnecting said outlet header of said condenser portion with said bypassconduit to said inlet header to said air desuperheater portion of saidheat exchanger, a check valve in said last-named conduit operable topermit coolant flow from said condenser portion to said airdesuperheater portion of said heat exchanger only, a three-way valvehaving one outlet thereof operatively connected to said hydrogen fueldump conduit, a conduit connecting another outlet of said three-wayvalve to said inlet of said hydrogen fuel surge tank, another conduithaving one end portion secured to and in fluid communication with saidconduit connecting said outlet header of said condenser portion withsaid bypass conduit and connected thereto between said check valve andsaid outlet header of said condenser portion of said heat exchanger andhaving the other end portion connected to the other end portion of saidthree-way valve, a diaphragm operated control valve in said last-namedconduit, a relay with said last-named control valve, temperature sensingmeans with said last-named relay and with said throat of saiddesuperheater portion of said heat exchanger operable in response to thetemperature in said throat of said desuperheater of said heat exchangerto operate said relay to open said last-named control valve at arelatively low temperature in said throat and close said last-namedvalve at a relatively high temperature in said throat, a diaphragmcontrol valve in said bypass conduit, said last-named control valvebeing operatively connected to said last-named relay to be opened atrelatively high temperatures in said throat and closed at relatively lowtemperatures in said throat of said desuperheater portion of said heatexchanger, a conduit connecting said outlet of said hydrogen fuel surgetank to said fuel pump, a control valve in said last-named conduit, arelay with said last-named control valve having pressure sensing meanstherewith located within said condenser portion of said heat exchangerand operable to open said valve at high condenser pressures and closesaid valve at low condenser pressures, relay means with said three-wayvalve having pressure sensing means therewith operabLe to open saidthree-way valve to provide hydrogen fuel to said surge tank on lowcondenser pressures and operable to provide hydrogen fuel to said fueldump line on high condenser pressures, a control valve in said conduitfrom said hydrogen fuel storage tank to said inlet header of saidcondenser portion of said air desuperheater and located between saidhydrogen fuel storage tank and said pump, said last-named control valvebeing operated by said relay operating said control valve between saidsurge tank and said fuel pump and operable to close said last-namedcontrol valve on high condenser pressures and open said valve on lowcondenser pressures, an air conensate well in said condenser portion ofsaid heat exchanger opposite from said throat of said air desuperheaterportion thereof, a conduit connected in one end portion to the outlet ofsaid air condensate well and connected in the other end portion to saidburner nozzles of said rocket engine, a bypass conduit connected in oneend portion to an intermediate portion of said last-named conduit andconnected in the other end portion to said inlet of said liquid airstorage tank, a liquid air pump in said conduit connected to said aircondensate well with said pump being positioned between said aircondensate well and said last-named bypass conduit to provide liquid airto said burner nozzles and to said liquid air storage tank, valve meansin said conduit connecting said air conduit and said burner nozzlespositioned between said last-named bypass conduit and said burnernozzles with said valve being controlled by the passage of fluid throughsaid dump conduit to said burner nozzles, an air rectifying column onsaid liquid air storage tank opening into said liquid air storage tankand having a plurality of nozzles therein, a conduit connected in oneend portion to said inlet of said liquid air storage tank and connectedin the other end portion to said nozzles in said air rectifying column,an air rectifying column circulating pump in said last-named conduit toprovide liquid air from said liquid air storage tank to said nozzles insaid air rectifying column, a dump conduit extending from said air inletdiffuser portion of said heat exchanger to said exhaust portion of saidrocket engine, a conduit connected in its end portions to saidlast-named dump
 7. The rocket as defined in claim 6 wherein said meanspositioned in said air desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger toremove moisture from air passing therethrough includes a plurality ofcoolant tubes positioned at the inlet end of said air desuperheater andextending thereacross, an inlet header in fluid communication with theinlet end of each of said last-named coolant tubes, a conduit connectedin its end portions to said last-named inlet header and operativelyconnected to said outlet of said hydrogen fuel storage tank, an outletheader in fluid communication with the outlet end of each of saidlast-named coolant tubes, a conduit connecting said last-named outletheader to said conduit connecting said outlet header of said airdesuperheater portion of said heat exchanger to said burner nozzles ofsaid engine, a plurality of fins mounted on said last-named coolanttubes and positioned in spaced relation, said fins on said last-namedcoolant tubes being cooled by the passage of hydrogen fuel therethroughto freeze thereon moisture in the atmosphere received therein.
 8. Arocket comprising, in combination, a housing having an open exhaust endportion and an open inlet end portion, fin means secured to said exhaustend portion of said housing and tapering toward the intermediate portionof said housing with the upper end portion of said fin means being instreamlined engagement with said housing, a rocket engine having acombustion chamber with burner nozzles and an exhaust portion opening tosaid open exhaust end portion of said housing, a liquid hydrogen fuelstorage tank positioned within said housing and having an inlet and anoutlet, a liquid air storage tank positioned within said housing, aliquid hydrogen fuel surge tank positioned within said housing andhaving an inlet and an outlet, a heat exchanger mounted within saidhousing and having an air inlet diffuser portion at one end portionthereof opening into an air desuperheater portion having a throatopening into an enlarged air condenser portion, means positioned in saidair desuperheater portion of said heat exchanger to remove moisture fromair passing therethrough, coolant tubes positioned in said airdesuperheater portion of said heat exchanger, a coolant inlet header influid communication with the inlet end of each of said coolant tubes, anoutlet header positioned in fluid communication with the outlet end ofeach of coolant tubes, a coolant dump conduit connecting said outletheader of said desuperheater portion to said burner nozzles of saidrocket engine, a plurality of coolant tubes in said condenser portion ofsaid heat exchanger, a coolant inlet header positioned at the lower endportion of said condenser portion of said heat exchanger and in fluidcommunication with the inlet end of each of said coolant tubes, aconduit connecting said last-named header to said outlet of saidhydrogen fuel storage tank, pump means in said last-named conduitoperable to provide hydrogen fuel under pressure to said inlet header ofsaid condenser Portion of said heat exchanger, valve means positioned insaid last-named conduit between said pump means and said inlet header ofsaid condenser portion of said heat exchanger, control means with saidvalve means having pressure sensing means therewith located in said airdesuperheater portion and said condenser portion of said heat exchangerand being operable to open and close said valve means to maintain apressure drop between said throat of said air desuperheater portion andsaid condenser portion of said heat exchanger, bypass conduit meansconnecting said inlet header of said air desuperheater portion of saidheat exchanger to said last-named conduit between said valve means andsaid pump means, a coolant outlet header positioned at the upper portionof said condenser portion of said heat exchanger and in fluidcommunication with the outlet end of each of said coolant tubes therein,conduit means connecting said outlet header of said condenser portionwith said inlet header of said air desuperheater portion of said heatexchanger, other conduit means connecting said outlet header of saidcondenser portion of said heat exchanger to said dump conduit to providehydrogen fuel thereto, valve means with said last-named conduit meansand with said bypass conduit means having control means therewithoperable to sense the temperature in said throat of said airdesuperheater portion of said heat exchanger and open and close saidvalve means to regulate flow of said hydrogen fuel through said bypassconduit to said air desuperheater portion and from said outlet header ofsaid condenser portion of said heat exchanger, conduit means connectingsaid hydrogen fuel surge tank and said hydrogen fuel storage tank tosaid last-named conduit means between said valve therein and said dumpconduit, conduit means connecting the outlet of said hydrogen fuel surgetank to said fuel pump and having control means therewith operable tosense pressures in said condenser portion of said heat exchanger topermit passage of fluid from said surge tank to said pump at highcondenser pressures and prevent passage thereto at low condenserpressures in said condenser portion, an air condensate well in saidcondenser portion of said heat exchanger, conduit means connecting saidair condensate well to said burner nozzles of said rocket engine and tosaid liquid air storage tank to transfer liquid air condensed in saidcondenser portion of said heat exchanger to said liquid air storage tankand to said burner nozzles, means with said liquid air storage tankoperable to separate the liquid air into a nitrogen containing portionand an oxygen portion and discharge the nitrogen containing portion,said rocket being constructed and adapted to be initially fueled withliquid hydrogen in said hydrogen fuel storage tank and with a liquidoxidizer in said liquid air storage tank with said hydrogen and saidoxidizer being supplied to said rocket engine during lift-off of saidrocket with air from the atmosphere being received and condensed in saidheat exchanger during flight of said rocket means and provided to saidliquid air storage tank and to said rocket engine for oxidation of saidliquid hydrogen during combustion therein.
 9. The rocket as defined inclaim 8 wherein said means positioned in said air desuperheater portionof said heat exchanger to remove moisture from air passing therethroughincludes a plurality of coolant tubes positioned at the inlet end ofsaid air desuperheater and extending thereacross and being operativelyconnected in the inlet end thereof to said hydrogen fuel storage tank toreceive hydrogen fuel therefrom, means operatively connecting the outletend of said last-named coolant tubes to said rocket engine, and finmeans mounted on said last-named coolant tubes, said fin means beingcooled by passage of hydrogen through said last-named tubes to freezethereon moisture in the atmosphere passing therethrough.
 10. Rocketmeans comprising, in combination, a housing having an open eXhaust endportion and an open inlet end portion, stabilizing means secured to saidhousing, rocket engine means positioned within said housing having acombustion chamber therein and an exhaust portion communicating with theatmosphere at said open exhaust end portion of said housing, liquidhydrogen fuel storage means within said housing having an inlet and anoutlet, liquid air storage means positioned within said housing, liquidhydrogen fuel surge tank means positioned within said housing and havingan inlet and an outlet, heat exchanger means mounted within said housingand having an air inlet diffuser portion at one end portion thereofopening into an air desuperheater portion having a throat opening intoan enlarged air condenser portion, said air inlet diffuser portion ofsaid heat exchanger being positioned to receive air from the atmospheretherein during flight of said rocket means through the atmosphere,coolant tube means positioned in said condenser portion and said airdesuperheater portion of said heat exchanger, conduit means operativelyconnected to the inlet end of said coolant tube means and to saidhydrogen fuel storage means and said hydrogen fuel surge tank means toreceive hydrogen fuel therefrom for passage through said tube means,conduit means operatively connected to the outlet end of said coolanttube means and to said hydrogen fuel storage means and said hydrogenfuel surge tank means and to said rocket engine means to pass fuelthereto, control means with said conduit means to regulate the passageof hydrogen fuel therethrough, a liquid air condensate well in saidcondenser portion of said heat exchanger to collect liquid air condensedtherein, conduit means connecting said liquid air condensate well withsaid liquid air storage means and said rocket engine means, and meanswith said liquid air storage means operable to receive liquid air andremove a portion of the nitrogen therefrom, said rocket means beingfueled with liquid hydrogen fuel in said hydrogen fuel storage meanswith said fuel being provided to said heat exchanger and said rocketengine means with said heat exchanger receiving and condensing thereinair from the atmosphere and providing liquid air therefrom to saidliquid air storage means and to said rocket engine means for oxidationof said hydrogen fuel during combustion thereof in said combustionchamber of said engine means to drive said rocket means.
 11. A method ofpropelling a rocket or the like comprising the steps of, funneling airfrom the atmosphere through an air inlet of said rocket having an inletarea of 30 to 90 square feet then into a passageway and across aplurality of plates in said passageway, cooling the plates by placingliquid hydrogen fuel at approximately 45* R in heat conducting relationwith the plates and cooling same and freezing and retaining thereonwater and carbon dioxide from the atmospheric air, passing the resultingdried atmospheric air across a plurality of rows of fins in thepassageway at a velocity of approximately Mach one, cooling the fins byplacing liquid hydrogen fuel at approximately 45* R in heat conductingrelation therewith and cooling the atmospheric air passing thereacrosssuch leaving the throat of the passageway at a temperature ofapproximately 200* R, expanding the air leaving the throat of thepassageway into a condenser at a pressure of from 10 to 3,000 pounds persquare foot thereby further cooling same and simultaneously passing theair over a plurality of tubes containing liquid hydrogen fuel atapproximately 45* R cooling the air to a temperature below 140* R andcondensing the condensable portions of the air, exhausting to theatmosphere incondensable neon and helium, collecting the resultingliquid air and pumping same to rocket engine means and to storage meansfloating on the line to the engine means, pumping a portion of theliquid air from said storage means to an air rectifYing column andspraying same thereinto while simultaneously heating the lower portionof said column and cooling the upper portion of said column andfractionating the liquid air into a gaseous fraction containing nitrogenand a liquid fraction containing oxygen, exhausting to the atmospherethe resulting gaseous fraction containing nitrogen and returning theliquid fraction containing oxygen to said storage means, providingliquid hydrogen fuel previously used for cooling the air to the enginemeans and mixing same therein with the liquid air supplied thereto andburning the resultant mixture in a combustion zone, and exhausting theresulting gases to the atmosphere in one direction to thereby exert anequal force on the rocket or the like in the opposite direction.
 12. Themethod as recited in claim 11 additionally comprising the step ofrecirculating a portion of the liquid hydrogen fuel used for cooling inthe condenser through the condenser and the passageway for additionalcooling of air passing therethrough.
 13. A method of propelling a rocketor the like comprising, the steps of, funneling air from the atmosphereinto a restricted passageway to increase the velocity thereof, coolingplates positioned across the inlet of the passageway and freezingthereon water and carbon dioxide from the air as it enters thepassageway, passing the resulting dried air through the passageway at avelocity of approximately Mach one and simultaneously providing liquidhydrogen fuel at approximately 45* R to the passageway in heatconducting relation with air passing therethrough and cooling the air toits saturation temperature with the air leaving the passageway in agaseous state, passing the air into a condenser as it leaves thepassageway, providing additional liquid hydrogen fuel at approximately45* R to said condenser in heat conducting relation with the air in thecondenser and cooling of the air therein and condensing the condensableportions of the air, removing the incondensable portions of the air fromthe condenser and discarding same, collecting the resulting liquid airand moving same to liquid air storage means, removing a portion of theliquid air from the storage means and fractionating the liquid air intoa gaseous fraction containing nitrogen and a liquid fraction containingoxygen, exhausting the resulting gaseous fraction containing nitrogen tothe atmosphere and returning the liquid fraction containing oxygen tothe storage means, continuously transferring a portion of the liquidfraction containing oxygen to a combustion chamber of engine means, andsimultaneously transferring to the combustion chamber a portion of theliquid hydrogen fuel used for cooling the air and mixing the fuel withthe liquid fraction containing oxygen and burning the resulting mixturetherein, the resulting gases being exhausted to the atmosphere in onedirection and exerting an equal force on a rocket or the like in theopposite direction.
 14. A method of propelling a rocket or the likecomprising, the steps of, funneling air from the atmosphere into arestricted passageway and increasing the velocity thereof, removingwater and carbon dioxide from the air as it enters the passageway,passing the resulting dried air through the passageway andsimultaneously providing low temperature liquid hydrogen fuel to thepassageway in heat conducting relation with air passing therethrough andcooling the air with the air leaving the passageway in a gaseous state,passing the air into a condenser, providing additional low temperatureliquid hydrogen fuel to the condenser in heat conducting relation withthe air therein and cooling of the air therein and thereby condensingthe air, collecting the resulting liquid air and moving same to liquidair storage means, removing a portion of the liquid air from the storagemeans and fractionating same into a gaseous fraction containing nitrogenand a liquid fraction containing oxygen, exhausting the gaseous fractioncontaining nitrogen and returning the liquid fraction containing oxygento the storage means, continually transferring a portion of the liquidfraction containing oxygen to a combustion chamber of engine means, andsimultaneously transferring to the combustion chamber a portion of theliquid hydrogen fuel used for cooling the air, mixing the fuel with theliquid fraction containing oxygen and burning same in said combustionchamber, the resulting gases being exhausted to the atmosphere in onedirection and thereby exerting an equal force on a rocket or the like inthe opposite direction.